On January 16 and 17, 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released two statements signaling that yet more change is on the horizon for the agency. Close on the heels of similar announcements regarding potential changes to its Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and prepaid card rules, the Bureau announced…
On January 22, 2018, Colorado Attorney General Cynthia H. Coffman (“Colorado AG”) announced that her office has settled a lawsuit against two lenders. The Colorado AG alleged that the lenders charged predatory interest rates to Colorado consumers by lending money to consumers who had pending personal injury claims and then requiring those consumers to pay…
On January 17, the New York Attorney General (AG) filed a motion to compel a debt collection company and its owner to produce financial documents, business records, and other documents in a lawsuit alleging that the defendants were part of an illegal debt collection scheme. The lawsuit, which was filed…
On January 12, 2018, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) announced the assessment of civil money penalties and consent orders against five national banking organizations over mortgage servicing deficiencies, resulting in a total monetary settlement of $35.1 million. In 2011 and 2012, the FRB initiated enforcement actions against ten firms, including the five against…
On January 3, 2018, the Second Circuit decided Latner v. Mount Sinai Health Sys., Inc., 879 F.3d 52 (2d Cir. 2018), affirming the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York’s decision to dismiss the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) suit, and finding that the plaintiff consented to…
On December 22, 2017, four Democratic Senators, Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), introduced a bill titled the “Accountability for Wall Street Executives Act of 2017.” The bill amends the Revised Statutes, 12 U.S.C. § 484, to arm state attorneys general and other law enforcement…
On December 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a motion to compel discovery responses and for the production of documents in a case the FTC filed against a student loan debt relief company and its owner in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The FTC claims that the student…
This December, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) released a letter to credit unions detailing its primary areas of supervisory focus for 2018. The NCUA intends for credit unions to rely on the letter to better prepare for their examinations by the NCUA throughout 2018. The seven areas of focus…
On December 8, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had settled allegations that a Louisiana-based mortgage lender violated the False Claims Act (FCA) through its underwriting of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgage loans. In the lawsuit, which is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, the…
On December 21, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced delays and potential changes to its Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and pre-paid card regulations. Both sets of regulations have been subject to criticism by industry participants and others. Although lenders will have to comply with the CFPB’s HMDA…
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) provides Congress with oversight over administrative rulemaking, providing it with a veto of sorts over rulemaking with which it disagrees. For an agency rule to become effective, the agency must submit a report to Congress describing the rule. Congress then has 60 days to issue…
On December 6, 2016, the Federal Reserve Board announced that it entered into a consent order with a Pennsylvania bank ordering it to cease and desist deceptive student lending practices, and assessing millions of dollars in civil penalties. According to the order, the state-chartered bank and its agent violated section 5 of…
On December 6, 2016, the Federal Reserve Board announced that it entered into a consent order with a Pennsylvania bank ordering it to cease and desist deceptive student lending practices, and assessing millions of dollars in civil penalties. According to the order, the state-chartered bank and its agent violated section 5 of the Federal…
On December 5, 2017, the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union filed a lawsuit against President Trump and Mick Mulvaney over Trump’s appointment of Mulvaney as the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The case, Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union v. Trump, et al., No….
On Tuesday, December 5, 2017, the U.S. Senate’s Banking Committee marked up the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, S. 2155, which is bipartisan legislation set to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act. The bill is co-sponsored by twenty Senators–10 Republicans and 10 Democrats–and comes on the tails of the…
On November 29, the New Mexico Attorney General (AG) announced that, after a year-long investigation of a national bank, the AG will seek damages on behalf of thousands of New Mexico consumers for whom the bank had created unauthorized banking and credit card accounts. The AG announced that if he cannot reach a resolution with the bank,…
On November 28, the Federal Reserve announced that it had entered into a consent order with a Kansas state bank, resolving allegations that the bank engaged in deceptive residential mortgage lending practices in violation of Section 5 the Federal Trade Commission Act. According to the consent order, the bank’s loan officers often gave borrowers…
Goodwin announced today that Anthony Alexis, the former Head of the Office of Enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has joined the firm in the Washington, D.C. office as a partner in the Financial Industry Practice and as the head of the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Enforcement Practice. “Tony’s extensive enforcement and compliance…
Goodwin announced today that Anthony Alexis, the former Head of the Office of Enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has joined the firm in the Washington, D.C. office as a partner in the Financial Industry Practice and as the head of the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Enforcement Practice. “Tony’s…
On November 16, 2017, the Southern District of California dismissed TCPA claims on standing grounds, finding that the plaintiff had not alleged a concrete injury. In Selby v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, no. 3:17-cv-00973 (S.D. Cal), Judge Bencivengo concluded that the telephone calls the plaintiff allegedly received were not “telemarketing” calls…