Goodwin’s Consumer Finance Insights (CFI) monitors, reports, and analyzes the latest legal news, activity, and developments impacting the consumer finance industry. Consumer financial services companies—whether banks, fintechs, nonbank and alternative lenders, payment providers, or industry vendors or service providers, like digital advertisers and lead generators—face a constantly shifting and maturing regulatory and legal landscape. Growing from the Financial Crisis, today more than any time in history the consumer finance industry must confront a robust and growing body of industry legislation and regulation, all while under the microscope of sophisticated enforcers, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and state regulators and attorneys general. It is critical for in-house and outside corporate counsel, compliance departments, and business executives to stay informed and aware of these developments to navigate institutional, reputational, and legal risks. Goodwin’s CFI is a singular source of the most recent industry news and latest enforcement activity for you to leverage. Here, you will find links to original enforcement documents, enforcement activity statistics, and reports, analysis, and commentary from Goodwin’s leading Consumer Financial Services Litigation and Enforcement practitioners.

CFPB, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Department of Treasury Initiate Public Inquiry into Financial Products Targeted at Healthcare Costs

On July 7, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DOH), and U.S. Department of Treasury (DOT) initiated a public inquiry into certain financial products, such as medical credit cards and installment loans that the CFPB characterized as “high-cos specialty products.”  The CFPB,…

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New York Courts Split on the Constitutionality of the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act

In the six months since New York’s governor signed the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, L. 2022, ch. 821 (eff. Dec. 30, 2022) (FAPA), a split has emerged about whether the law applies retroactively. FAPA strictly cabins the time limits for commencing mortgage foreclosures by amending five New York procedural rules…

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Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Quality Control Standards for Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) Published

On June 21, 2023, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) (collectively, the “Agencies”) published a proposed…

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Eleventh Circuit Reprimands CFPB for Discovery Abuses During Rule 30(b)(6) Depositions

On June 12, 2023, an Eleventh Circuit panel issued an opinion affirming a sanctions order against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) premised on the CFPB’s “derail[ment]” of multiple depositions in contravention of the district court’s instructions.  See Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Brown, Case 21-14468 (11th Cir. June 12,…

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CFPB Highlights Risks Arising from Chatbot Usage in Banking Industry

On June 6, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Spotlight on financial institutions’ growing use of “chatbots” as a means to provide cost-effective customer service. The use of chatbots in customer service has been gaining popularity among financial institutions in recent years.  The ten largest commercial banks…

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FTC Approves Consent Order with Payment Card Network Operator for EFTA Violations

On May 30, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had finalized a consent order with one of the nation’s largest credit and debit card providers in an administrative action regarding alleged violations of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA), as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 1693o-2, and its implementing regulation,…

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CFPB Reaches $20 Million Consent Order with Lender Over Optional Add-On Products

On May 31, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with an Indiana-based non-bank installment lender. ​​The consent order alleges that the lender engaged in unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices concerning the “marketing, sales, and financing of optional ancillary products” that it offered. ​Specifically, the…

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DOJ Reaches Settlement Over Bank's Alleged Redlining

On May 31, 2023, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), announced that it had entered into a settlement with a Philadelphia based bank and trust company over allegations that the bank had engaged in unlawful redlining in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.  In the Complaint, filed contemporaneously with the consent order in U.S. District Court for the…

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CFPB Warns Banks that Unilaterally Opening Closed Bank Accounts Could Be a Federal Law Violation

On Monday May 10, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or the Bureau) released a circular regarding the Bureau’s newest guidance that if a “financial institution unilaterally reopens [deposit] accounts to process debits or deposits, it can constitute an unfair practice under the [Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2012]…

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Pennsylvania Attorney General Settles $11 Million Dollar Lawsuit with Lender

​On May 15, 2023, the Pennsylvania Attorney General (PA AG) announced ​that it reached a $11.4 million settlement with a rent-to-own lender and its affiliates. This settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by the PA AG in Pennsylvania state court in which the PA AG alleged that the lender violated state law by misrepresenting the terms of its rental-purchase agreements…

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FTC Brings Action Against Two Companies Involved in Illegal Student Loan Relief Schemes

On May 8, 2023 the FTC announced that it filed complaints against two loan forgiveness and debt relief companies on April 24, 2023 alleging that they falsely claimed to be affiliated with the Department of Education. The companies allegedly told students that certain fee payments would count toward repayment programs and student…

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Third Circuit Upholds Dismissal of TILA Claim Based on Failure to Itemize Annual Credit Card Renewal Notice Fees

On Tuesday, April 11, 2023, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action alleging that JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Chase) failed to itemize annual fees on its credit card renewal notices in violation of the…

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