On April 17, 2018, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced that the Senate would seek to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) indirect auto lending guidance. The Senate passed a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) on the following day, thereby sending the resolution…
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…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its quarterly report on credit trends for the third quarter of 2017 last week, focusing on trends in the auto lending industry. Auto loans are a key sector in the lending market—approximately100 million auto loans are outstanding, valued at more than $1 trillion….
This time last year, LLW reported on the Department of Justice going after subprime auto lenders, and more recently we have reported on the CFPB’s targeting of subprime auto lenders. But Massachusetts has also gotten in on the regulatory action. On March 16, 2016, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (MAG) announced that American Credit…
Scrutiny of the CFPB’s auto-lending supervision and enforcement practices was renewed last week when Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services issued another scathing report criticizing the agency, this time focusing on its handling of the distribution of the Ally Financial auto-lending settlement funds. Concurrently with…
In December 2015, the CFPB took action against non-bank auto lender CarHop. In so doing, the CFPB continued to carry out its stated intention of expanding its regulatory oversight to large non-bank auto lenders. The CFPB ordered CarHop and its affiliated financing company, Universal Acceptance Corporation (Universal), to cease their…
On November 24, 2015, Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee released a report sharply criticizing the CFPB’s methodology for enforcing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) with regard to indirect automobile lending. The report, entitled, “Unsafe at Any Bureaucracy: CFPB Junk Science and Indirect Auto Lending,” adds to the…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent action against two credit card vendors regarding credit monitoring and identity theft protection services is a reminder of the legal risks associated with certain add-on products. The July 1 settlement, in which the CFPB found that the vendors misled customers about the benefits of…
On June 10, 2015, the CFPB issued a Final Rule amending the scope of its regulatory authority to include “larger participants” of the automobile financing industry. Under the Final Rule, the CFPB will supervise certain nonbank auto finance companies that (1) originate loans for the purchase of automobiles; (2) refinance…
On February 24, 2015, Capital One Financial Corporation disclosed in its annual SEC 10-K filing that in early 2015 it had received subpoenas related to the bank’s subprime auto financing and securitization activities from the New Jersey office of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the New York district attorney’s…
On September 18, CFPB Director Richard Cordray delivered remarks at a Field Hearing about CFPB’s latest proposed rule, which would allow it to begin regulating “captive” finance companies – those entities owned by automotive manufacturers “for the primary purpose of facilitating sales for their parent companies and associated dealers.” In his…
The Department of Justice is investigating whether to bring civil claims under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) against GM Financial Company, Inc. for its origination and securitization of subprime auto loans. GM Financial revealed the investigation in a recent SEC 8-K filing, stating that…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced a $5.5 million monetary and injunctive settlement with auto lender Consumer Portfolio Services, Inc. (CPS) concerning allegations that the company used illegal tactics in servicing and collecting consumers’ auto loans, and failed to adopt proper quality controls, in violation of Section 5 of…