On August 18, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a proposed rule to create a new category of loans known as “seasoned” qualified mortgages (Seasoned QMs). This new category of qualified mortgages would require loans to meet certain performance requirements over a 36-month seasoning period, after which the…
On August 21, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had a reached a settlement with a California-based lender, resolving allegations that the lender had sent deceptive loan advertisements to servicemembers and veterans in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), the Mortgage Acts and Practices…
On August 21, 2020, Colorado’s Attorney General announced that the Denver District Court ruled in the state’s favor and found that a for-profit college violated the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (“CCPA”) and the Uniform Consumer Credit Code (“UCCC”) in operating its institutional loan program. The matter was initiated after a two-year investigation that…
On August 20, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it had a reached a settlement with a national bank, resolving allegations that its overdraft services violated the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1693 et seq., 12 C.F.R. § 1005.17(b)(1)(iii) (EFTA), Regulation E, 2 C.F.R. § 1005.17(b)(1)(iii),…
On August 19, 2020, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General announced that it had entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with a regional bank to stop allegedly aggressive auto loan debt collection practices. The agreement arose out of allegations made by the Pennsylvania AG that the bank engaged in unfair and manipulative practices,…
On August 18, 2020, the Colorado Attorney General (Colorado AG) announced a settlement with two bank and two non-bank lenders for allegedly exceeding state interest rate limits on consumer loans. The case resolves two cases that were originally filed in Denver District Court and have been pending since 2017. The…
On July 29, 2020, three states – California, Illinois, and New York – filed suit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenging the OCC’s Rule on the “valid when made” doctrine. The suit was filed…
On August 12, 2020, the Vermont Attorney General (Vermont AG) announced a settlement with an auto financing company related to alleged unfair or deceptive practices concerning the company’s subprime auto loans. According to the Vermont AG’s complaint, filed on August 7, 2020, the company engaged in unfair and deceptive practices in violation of the Vermont Consumer Protection Act, 9…
On August 4, 2020, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General (Pennsylvania AG) announced that it reached a settlement with a company providing financing to consumers seeking student-loan debt relief. According to the Pennsylvania AG, the company violated the Pennsylvania Consumer Protection Law and the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA) through its alleged…
On July 29, 2020, the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB) held a symposium on the use of cost-benefit analysis in consumer financial protection regulation. CFPB Director Kathleen Kraninger provided opening remarks, followed by two panels of experts. The first panel focused its discussion on how the CFPB uses cost-benefit analysis…
On July 30, 2020, the Massachusetts Attorney General (Massachusetts AG) announced a settlement with a Nevada-based debt buyer regarding a portfolio of loan debt it purchased from a for-profit education company. The settlement resolves the Massachusetts AG’s allegations that, between 2010 and 2016, the for-profit education company misled students by…
On July 24, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered consent orders (here and here) against two California-based mortgage lenders, resolving allegations that the lenders violated the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1601–1667f, and its implementing regulation, Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. § 1026.24;…
On July 17, 2020, a federal judge in Guam refused to vacate her ruling in U.S. v. Government of Guam, et al., Case No. 1:17-00113, which held that sovereign immunity prevented the U.S. government from seeking damages under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) for Guam’s alleged violations of housing rights…
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued Final Rules last month in an effort to address the “legal confusion” regarding the impact of the permissible interest when a bank transfers a loan to a third party. These Final Rules are…
On July 20, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that the United States District Court for the Central District of California had entered its stipulated final judgment with a foreclosure relief services company and its owner, resolving allegations that the defendants had engaged in deceptive and abusive acts…
On July 15, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it had filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against a Chicago-based nonbank mortgage creditor for violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1691(a) (ECOA), its implementing regulation Regulation…
During a House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) oversight hearing on June 30, 2020, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin hinted that clarification may be coming on whether agents helping small businesses apply for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans are entitled to automatic fee reimbursements from PPP lenders. This clarification comes on the…
On July 13, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it had filed suit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against a Texas student loan debt-relief business and a marketing and customer service company for engaging in a nationwide student-loan debt-relief operation that allegedly…
On July 8, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it reached a settlement with a Florida-based student debt relief company and three of the company’s officers. The complaint, which was filed in the Southern District of Florida, alleges that from 2016 through October 2019, the company violated the…
On July 6, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed a lawsuit against a Delaware financial services company and the company’s founder in the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleges that the company engaged in deceptive acts and practices under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA),…