On July 12, the CFPB issued a consent order against a FinTech company for facilitating point of sale financing activities without authorization from consumers.  The consent order requires the company to pay up to approximately $9 million in redress to impacted consumers and a $2.5 million civil money penalty.
Continue Reading CFPB Takes Action Against FinTech Company for Originating Unauthorized Loans

On July 1, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released a Policy Statement on its commitment to comprehensive fair lending oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks (collectively, “regulated entities”).  The FHFA addressed its position on:  (i) monitoring and information gathering; (ii) supervisory examinations; and (iii) administrative enforcement related to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act.  The FHFA added that the statement operates as a “foundation for future interpretations by the agency and its regulated entities.”  Comments on the policy statement are…
Continue Reading FHFA Releases Policy Statement On Fair Lending

On July 6, the CFPB posted a blog titled, “Should you buy now and pay later?” describing how buy now pay later (BNPL) deferred payment options work, and the benefits and risks that come with BNPL.  Generally, if a consumer selects the BNPL option at an online checkout, “the purchase is . . . split into a payment schedule – typically four fixed payments made bi-weekly or monthly until the balance is paid in full.”  The CFPB points out that transaction approval takes minutes, with no interest, finance charges, or hard credit inquiries.
Continue Reading CFPB Blogs About Buy Now Pay Later

At the recent FDIC conference, “Fintech: A Bridge to Economic Inclusion,” FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams remarked that while the proportion of U.S. households that were banked in 2019 was 94.6 percent, 7 million households still reported no banking relationship.  She also noted that “the rates for Black and Hispanic households who do not have a checking or savings account at a bank remain substantially higher than the overall ‘unbanked’ rate.”  Referencing her personal challenges in establishing credit as a young immigrant to the United States 30 years ago, McWilliams discussed technology’s role in creating and facilitating a more inclusive financial…
Continue Reading FDIC Chairman Discusses FinTech and Bank Innovation

On June 29, the CFPB and the Georgia Attorney General’s Office settled with a debt-relief and credit-repair company and its owners for allegedly deceiving consumers into hiring the company to lower or eliminate credit-card debts and improve consumers’ credit scores.  The complaint alleges that the plaintiffs’ use of telemarketing and direct mail violated the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Consumer Financial Protection Act, and Georgia’s Fair Business Practices Act by, among other things, falsely claiming that:…
Continue Reading CFPB and Georgia AG Settle With Debt-Relief Company

On June 29, NYDFS announced that two New York-charted banks engaging in indirect auto lending will pay civil money penalties for violating New York’s fair lending law for engaging in practices that resulted in members of protected classes paying higher interest rates that were not based on creditworthiness.  In particular, NYDFS asserts that the practice of allowing “dealer markup” in setting retail interest rates resulted in statistically significant differences in pricing, disadvantaging Hispanic and African-American consumers, with differences ranging from 20 to 59 basis points.
Continue Reading DFS Settles with Indirect Auto Lenders to Resolve Fair Lending Violations

On June 29, the CFPB released its summer 2021 Supervisory Highlights.  The findings of the report, which cover examinations that generally were completed between January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020, are issued to “help institutions and the general public better understand how the Bureau examines institutions for compliance with Federal consumer financial law.”…
Continue Reading CFPB Issues Summer 2020 Supervisory Highlights

Though bankruptcy filings are down in 2021, the expiration of the Paycheck Protection Program and reopening of the courts nationwide could lead to a rise in bankruptcy filings with many businesses still struggling to cope with the economic and supply chain aftereffects of the pandemic and consumer purchasing habits.  These bankruptcies, in turn, will have an inevitable ripple effect on creditors and other claimants, whose abilities to collect on claims and exercise rights, are significantly restricted by the automatic stay.  Generally, the automatic stay requires a party seeking relief against a debtor to do so in, and only in, the…
Continue Reading A Bankruptcy Conundrum: When You Must Seek Relief To Seek Relief

On June 15, the Senate swore in President Biden nominee Lina Khan as Chair of the FTC following confirmation by vote of 69-28.  Her current term on the Commission will expire on September 25, 2024.  Khan noted that she looks forward to working with her colleagues “to protect the public from corporate abuse.”  In her role as Chair, Khan replaces former Acting Chair, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, who served in the role since January 2021.  Prior to becoming Chair of the Commission, Khan was an Associate Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. She also previously served as counsel to the…
Continue Reading Lina Khan Sworn in as New FTC Chair

The United States Supreme Court ruled yesterday in Collins v. Yellin that a restriction on the President’s power to remove the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency at will is unconstitutional as a violation of the separation of powers doctrine. This decision did not come as a surprise, as the Court had ruled in Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that a similar restriction on the President’s power to remove the director of the CFPB at will was unconstitutional.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Rules That Director Of Federal Housing Finance Agency Is Removable At Will; Calabria Fired

On June 16, the CFPB issued an interpretive rule reversing its prior determination that it lacked authority to examine institutions for compliance with the Military Lending Act (MLA).  In 2018, the CFPB discontinued checking for MLA compliance during supervisory examinations on the grounds that Congress had not authorized such examination authority under the Dodd-Frank Act.  As a result, the new interpretive rule sets forth the statutory basis to examine institutions that it supervises for MLA compliance as follows:…
Continue Reading CFPB to Resume Examinations Under the Military Lending Act