Search Results: Small Dollar Lending/Lenders

Bureau Sues Lease-to-Own Company for its Financing Options to Asset Limited Consumers

On July 19, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) sued Snap Finance LLC, Snap R TO LLC, Snap Second Look LLC, Snap U.S. Holdings LLC, and Snap Finance Holdings LLC (collectively, the Snap Defendants or Snap).  The complaint alleged that the Snap Defendants violated the: Consumer Financial Protection Act…

Read More

CFPB Files Certiorari Petition With the U.S. Supreme Court Seeking Review of the Fifth Circuit’s Decision in Community Fin. Services

On November 15, 2022, less than one month after the Fifth Circuit panel’s decision in Community Fin. Services Assoc. of Am. Ltd., No. 21-50826 (5th Cir. Oct. 19, 2022) and more than two months before its 90-day deadline, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a certiorari petition with the…

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

California's Mini-CFPB Enters into Memorandums of Understanding with Earned Wage Access Fintech Companies

In January 2021, the new California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) entered into memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with five earned wage access fintech companies so that these companies can continue to operate in California while providing consumers with protection against abusive practices.  The DFPI, often referred to as…

Read More

Federal Agencies Encourage Access to Small-Dollar Loans in Light of COVID-19

This week LenderLaw Watch covers developments related to small-dollar loans in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Every year the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) conducts its Survey of Household Economics & Decision-making, asking households across the country questions related to financial wellbeing and security.  According…

Read More

California Signs Two New Consumer Protection Bills into Law

On September 25, 2019, California’s Governor signed into law two bills that impact financial consumer services companies in California: California Assembly Bill 539 and California Senate Bill 187.  Both laws go into effect January 1, 2020. California Assembly Bill 539 (AB 539) imposes new regulations and restrictions on loans of…

Read More

Industry Groups Seek Preliminary Injunction to Enjoin CFPB’s Enforcement of the Payday Lending Rule

On September 14, 2018, the Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. and the Consumer Service Alliance of Texas (Industry Groups) moved for a preliminary injunction to prevent many of the provisions of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) payday lending rule (12 C.F.R. Part 1041) from becoming effective on…

Read More

California Supreme Court Rules that Loans Can be Unconscionable Due to High Interest Rates, Despite Lack of Interest Rate Cap

On August 13, 2018, the California Supreme Court answered a question certified to it by the Ninth Circuit, holding that a loan with a high interest rate can be unconscionable, even if the legislature specifically declined to impose an interest rate cap on loans of that amount.  See De La Torre…

Read More

Changes to the CFPB’s Approach to the Payday Lending Industry

The Trump Administration-appointed Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), Mick Mulvaney, recently stated in a memo to his staff that under his leadership, the CFPB would significantly change in its approach to regulation and enforcement.  The most concrete example of this thus far is his approach to the payday lending…

Read More

Congress Uses CRA to Target CFPB Payday Lending Rule and Auto Lending Guidance

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…

Read More

Fourth Circuit Again Rejects Arbitration Request Under Payday Loan Agreement

On May 10, 2017, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the Middle District of North Carolina’s refusal to compel arbitration under the terms of a payday loan agreement.  In Dillon v. BMO Harris Bank, N.A., BMO Harris attempted to compel arbitration pursuant to an agreement that would have required the arbitrator to…

Read More

Payday Lenders Claim Regulators Are Choking Their Livelihoods in Motion for Preliminary Injunction

On November 23, 2016, Advance America, Inc., a payday lender, and Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd., a trade organization which represents the interests of payday lenders (Plaintiffs), filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Motion) against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, and the…

Read More

Eleventh Circuit Invalidates Another Western Sky Arbitration Clause

On August 29, 2016, the Eleventh Circuit upheld a Northern District of Georgia decision invalidating an arbitration clause in Jessica Parm v. National Bank of California, N.A. (Docket No. 15-12509).  Defendant National Bank of California (National Bank) argued that plaintiff Jessica Parm’s (Parm) payday loan contract compelled her to arbitrate…

Read More

CFPB Monthly Complaint Snapshot Brings Bank Accounts into Focus

On August 31, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its Monthly Complaint Report for August 2016, this month focusing on complaints concerning bank accounts and related services.  The report, which compiles data from the CFPB’s complaint database to compare consumer complaints by subject, geography, and company on a…

Read More

CFPB Releases Report on Single-Payment Vehicle Title Loans

Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a report analyzing consumer usage and default patterns for certain single-payment vehicle title loans (the “Report”).  Vehicle title loans are loans issued to borrowers by non-depository lenders in exchange for a security interest in their vehicles.  A unique aspect of vehicle…

Read More

Treasury Department Weighs in on Online Marketplace Lending

On May 10, 2016, the U.S. Treasury Department released a white paper entitled, “Opportunities and Challenges in Online Marketplace Lending.”  The white paper is the result of a request for information that elicited more than 100 industry responses, and it reviews the benefits and risks of online marketplace lending before making…

Read More

12