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.

Colorado Attorney General Reaches Settlement with Affiliated Lender and Debt Management Company

​On December 14, 2022, the Colorado Attorney General (AG) announced ​that it entered into a consent order​ with a California-based debt management company and its sister lending company, resolving the AG’s examination findings that those companies violated Colorado’s Uniform Consumer Credit Code, C.R.S. § 5-1-101, et seq. (“UCCC”) and Debt Management Services Act, C.R.S. § 5-19-201…

Read More

Pennsylvania AG Sues Lead Generators For Deceptive Ads

On November 2, 2022, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that a group of companies offering lead generation services violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule (“TSR”), 16 C.F.R. Part 310, and Pennsylvania consumer protection law, 73 P.S. §§ 201-3 and 201-4, by engaging in…

Read More

Minnesota AG Enters into Consent Order with Student Debt Relief Company

On November 18, 2022, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office (Minnesota AG) announced that it entered into a consent order with a California student-loan debt-relief company to resolve allegations that the company illegally collected fees from customers and mispresented its services to consumers. According to the Minnesota AG, the company “falsely promised consumers student-loan…

Read More

CFPB Enters into $5.25 Million Consent Order with California Mortgage Servicer

On November 17, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a California-based mortgage servicer concerning its purported failure to provide certain borrowers forbearances and protections from credit reporting, as required under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).  According to the CFPB, the servicer’s…

Read More

Fifth Circuit Issues Decision Holding that the Funding Mechanism for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Is Unconstitutional

On October 19, 2022, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (Fifth Circuit) held that the funding mechanism for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is unconstitutional and violates the Appropriations Clause of the Constitution.  Community Fin. Services Assoc. of Am. Ltd., No. 21-50826 (5th Cir. Oct. 19, 2022).  In light…

Read More

Ninth Circuit Issues Two Significant TCPA Decisions Concerning Mixed-Use Cellphones and Statutory Damages Awards

In the past few weeks, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit) has issued significant decisions concerning the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and its application to unwanted text messages sent to cell phones used for both personal and business use, and the constitutionality of…

Read More

CFPB Releases Supervisory Highlights Regarding Practices of Student Loan Servicers and University-Owned Lenders

In September 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a special edition of Supervisory Highlights regarding recent examination findings related to student loan servicing.  The Supervisory Highlights focus on three sets of “significant supervisory findings:”  (i) blanket policies to withhold transcripts in connection with an extension of credit are abusive…

Read More

North Carolina AG Enters Into $23 Million Settlement with Debt Collector

​On October 11, 2022, the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office (NC AG) announced that it had entered into a consent order with certain Texas-based debt collection companies, resolving allegations that those companies engaged in illegal debt collection practices in violation of various state statutes.  In 2019, the NC AG filed a law​suit in North Carolina state court alleging that…

Read More

CFPB Enters Into $950,000 Consent Order With Non-Bank Remittance Transfer Provider

On October, 4, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it reached a settlement with a non-bank remittance transfer provider to resolve alleged violations of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), 15 U.S.C. § 1693 et seq., and its implementing Regulation E, 12 C.F.R. Part 1005, including Subpart B (known as the Remittance…

Read More

CFPB Issues Circular Confirming that Financial Companies May Violate Consumer Financial Protection Law by Failing to Protect Consumer Data

In August 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a circular confirming that, under certain circumstances, entities may “violate the prohibition on unfair acts or practices in the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) when they have insufficient data protection or information security.”  The circular sets forth the CFPB’s analysis…

Read More

CFPB Launches Lawsuit Against Online Lender Alleging Violations of the Military Lending Act

​On September 29, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against an online lender and 38 of its subsidiaries for alleged violations of the Military Lending Act (MLA), 10 U.S.C. § 987, and its implementing regulation, 32…

Read More

CFPB Requires Bank to Pay Over $190 Million for Overdraft Fees

On September 28, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) an​nounced that it ordered an Alabama bank to pay over $190 million to resolve allegations that it charged its customers surprise overdraft fees between August 2018 and July 2021. The CFPB alleges that the bank was charging consumers surprise overdr​aft fees, known as authorized-positive ​fees, on…

Read More

DOJ Reaches $1.3 Million Settlement with Mortgage Lender for Allegedly Discriminatory Pricing Practices

On September 29, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it reached a settlement with a Memphis-based bank to resolve alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619, and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1691–1691f, and its implementing Regulation B, 12 C.F.R. §…

Read More

CFPB Fines Bank for Accessing Customer Credit Reports and Opening Accounts, Credit Cards, and Lines of Credit Without Customers’ Permission

On July 28, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Consent Order against a large bank (the Bank), claiming that the Bank created sales pressure on its employees that encouraged employees to illegally access customer credit reports and to open checking and savings accounts, credit cards, and lines…

Read More

State AGs Sue Personal Lending Company Over Hidden Add-Ons

On August 16, 2022, the Pennsylvania Attorney General announced that a group of attorneys general for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the States of New Jersey, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, and the District of Columbia (collectively, “the AGs”) ​had filed a multistate lawsuit against a personal lending company for allegedly charging consumers for “hidden add-on products” in violation of various…

Read More

CFPB Enters Into Consent Order with Fintech Company for $2.7 Million

​On August 10, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced ​that it entered into a consent order with a California Fint​ech company for allegedly engaging in deceptive acts and practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act. According to the CFPB, the company offered an automatic savings tool to customers through which customers would grant the…

Read More

California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation Settles With "Buy Now, Pay Later" Company

On August 3, 2022, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced ​that it had entered into a consent order with a Florida-based lending company that allegedly made “illegal loans.” Specifically, the consen​t order alleges that the company’s policy of making “buy now, pay later” arrangements for point-of-sale transactions qualified as “loans,” subjecting…

Read More