The first wave of class actions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic is here, including a number of cases concerning so-called “gating” eligibility rules that are legitimately applied by many lenders to manage the flow of applications for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). We expect these…
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…
Two financial institutions have now been sued in separate putative class action lawsuits concerning their implementation of the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which is aimed at assisting small businesses keep employees on their payroll. Plaintiffs in both lawsuits allege that the financial institutions are unlawfully restricting access to…
LenderLaw Watch continues its coverage of the impact COVID-19 has had and will have on various financial services sectors, this week focusing on COVID-19’s impact on credit card issuers. Although the newly enacted CARES Act (H.R. 748, 116th Cong. (2020)), signed by President Trump into law on March 27, 2020,…
As a result of COVID-19’s widespread economic disruption, the student lending industry has been impacted, from financial institutions to borrowers. In the past few weeks, the federal government has sought ways to address the student loan industry and offer protection to borrowers affected by the virus. On March 20, 2020,…
Over the past several weeks, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has sparked a litany of new orders, rules, laws, guidance, and plain asks from federal and state leaders, agencies, and courts. The President and federal and state leaders have all begun to focus on how COVID-19 is likely to impact Americans’…
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…
On October 4, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives moved the Supreme Court for leave to file an amicus curiae brief in opposition to Seila Law’s petition for writ of certiorari to review the Ninth Circuit’s decision in CFPB v. Seila Law LLC, No. 7-56324 (9th Cir. 2019), which upheld the…
On June 28, 2019, Seila Law LLC filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) single-director structure is constitutional. As Lender Law Watch covered previously, in CFPB v. Seila Law LLC, No….
On December 13, 2018, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Second Report and Order addressing issues with reassigned phone numbers and potential Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) liability, and establishing a safe harbor for business callers. Currently, there is no comprehensive database which allows businesses to determine whether a phone number…
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 2, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a status update regarding various initiatives that were proposed in its fall 2016 rulemaking agenda. The update provides readers with an overview of the CFPB’s proposals and observes that comments submitted in connection with a number of the proposals…
On November 8, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Lightfoot v. Cendant Mortg. Corp., a case that will decide an important jurisdictional issue for Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA). See 769 F.3d 681 (9th Cir. 2014), cert. granted, 136 S. Ct. 2536 (2016). The question before the Court…
The results of the recent election have led to speculation regarding what legal changes are in store for the consumer financial services industry and the CFPB in particular. Although President-elect Trump and other Republicans have made statements regarding “dismantling” the Dodd-Frank Act, few concrete proposals have been put forward. In…
*Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared on our firm site as a client alert. Summary On July 28, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the CFPB) released a summary of proposals it is considering to reform debt collection practices. At the same time, it released a Study of Third Party Debt…
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…
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…
On May 5, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued long-expected proposed rules that will drastically limit the use of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in contracts for consumer financial products and services. First, the proposed rules would prohibit pre-dispute arbitration agreements that bar consumers from filing or participating in a class…
On February 23, 2016, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray delivered prepared remarks (click link for full text) regarding CFPB regulation of credit unions to the Credit Union National Association. The crux of Director Cordray’s remarks was that the CFPB has affirmatively decided not to exclude credit unions from CFPB…
On February 19, the Federal Reserve noticed an information collection regarding recent changes to Regulation Z. The Notice (81 Fed. Reg. 8492) explains that the Federal Reserve is planning to update Regulation Z to include a number of regulatory requirements implemented in the past three years—particularly those promulgated by the…