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.

FTC Settles with Debt Collector

​On May 1, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had filed an amended complaint​ and entered into a proposed final order with a debt collector and its owner, resolving allegations that the company engaged in a fraudulent debt collection scheme. In its amended complaint, the FTC alleged that the debt collector used…

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CFPB Reports on Consumer Complaint Trends

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently issued its annual report analyzing the consumer complaints it received in 2024.  The CFPB collects complaints through its website, phone calls, and mail.  It also receives referrals from the White House, congressional offices, and other federal and state agencies.  The CFPB then directs…

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CFPB Agrees To Eliminate $8 Cap on Credit Card Late Fees

On April 15, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas vacated a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that capped credit card late fees at $8.  The decision granted a joint motion, brought by the CFPB and the coalition of trade associations that had sued it,…

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Shifting Priorities: Bureau Memorandum Provides Insight into New Era for CFPB

United States Capitol

The first 100 days of the Trump administration have included dramatic changes at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which are part of broader shifts in financial regulation under the new administration. The agency has retreated from many of its enforcement litigations, initiated reductions in force currently subject to legal challenges in…

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California Attorney General Announces Settlement With Realty Company Over Deceptive Contract And Lien Practices

On April 4, 2025, the California Attorney General announced that it had reached a settlement with a California-based realty company concerning claims that the company had violated California false advertising, unfair competition, and telemarketing laws and federal telemarketing and lending laws via allegedly luring vulnerable homeowners into a predatory contract scheme that caused homeowners to…

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Republicans Invoke the CRA to Repeal Chopra-Era Rules

The Republican-led Congress has invoked the Congressional Review Act (CRA) in attempts to revoke final rules that former CFPB Director Chopra issued toward the end of Biden’s Administration.  Under the CRA, Congress can repeal an agency’s final rule by passing a joint resolution of disapproval by simple majority vote.  The…

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CFPB is Proceeding with Some of Its Enforcement Actions, But Most Are Now Stayed or Dismissed

Although the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) voluntarily dismissed a slew of its own enforcement actions following Rohit Chopra’s removal as CFPB Director on January 31, 2025, the Bureau has affirmatively indicated its intent to continue litigating only a handful of cases so far. There were, by our…

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New York Seeks to Expand Consumer Protections by Proposing New Legislation and by Increasing Recruitment at its Department of Financial Services

As we recently reported, there have been rollbacks of consumer protections on the federal level, including the curtailing of enforcement activity at the CFPB.  In response to this activity, on March 13, 2025, the New York Office of the Attorney General (OAG) announced its support of new legislation to enable…

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NJ Attorney General Issues Finding of Probable Cause for Discrimination on Part of Cash Advance Business

On March 11, 2025, the New Jersey Attorney General announced that it had issued a Finding of Probable Cause for violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination against a business that provides cash advances and loans to borrowers. The Finding of Probable Cause found that the business had a policy of…

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Washington Attorney General Sues Collections Agency for Alleged Failure to Advise Consumers

​On March 5, 2025, the Washington Attorney General announced that he had filed a complaint in the King County Superior Court against a licensed debt collection agency based in King County, Washington. In his complaint, the Attorney General alleges that the collection agency violated the Washington Collection Agency Act and the state Consumer Protection Act through its…

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Amid Dismissals and Uncertainty, CFPB Says It Will Continue Litigating At Least One Matter Inherited From Prior Administration

In a significant development, for the first time under Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Russell Vought, CFPB litigators have informed a court that they have received authority from the Acting Director to continue litigating a matter. Since Rohit Chopra was removed as Director of the CFPB on January 31,…

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Portions of New York’s FAPA Survive Constitutional Challenges

Over the last four months, New York’s Appellate Division has finally begun to address constitutional challenges to the state’s Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA), an act that became effective in December 2022 and promptly generated disparate trial court interpretations about whether the law was supposed to apply retroactively.  As noted…

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CFPB Orders Money Exchange Company to Pay $2.5 Million Over Remittance Practices

On January 30, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced  that it had entered into a consent order with an international remittance company regarding the company’s use of deceptive advertising for fee amounts and failure to properly disclose applicable fees, in violation of both the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) and the Electronic Fund…

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NY Attorney General Enters into $1 Billion Consent Order with Small-Business Lender

​The New York Attorney General entered into two related Consent Order and Judgments on January 16, 2025, the first with a financial company offering short-term loans to small businesses and the second with several of the company’s officers. The Consent Orders combine for an aggregate settlement amount in excess of $1 billion,…

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NY Department of Financial Services Announces $2 Million Settlement with Peer-to-Peer Payment Processor Over Data Breach

​On January 23, 2025, the New York Department of Financial Services​ announced that it had entered into a Consent Order​ with a Peer-to-Peer Payment Processor for alleged violations of New York’s Cybersecurity Regulation. This regulation requires all financial and banking entities operating in New York to establish and maintain adequate cybersecurity controls and protections…

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New York Department of Financial Services Reaches $2,000,000 Settlement with Peer-to-Peer Payment Platform

On January 23, 2025, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced that it reached a $2,000,000 settlement as part of a broader consent order with a peer-to-peer payment platform (“P2P”) about its cybersecurity practices.  DFS contended that the P2P violated rules on Cybersecurity Policy, Cybersecurity Personnel and Intelligence,…

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