On November 13, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a “pilot study” on the small business lending market revealing “significant disparities” in how lenders treat black and white small business owners. As part of...more
In a letter to the CFPB released on September 10, several Senate Democrats implored the Bureau to establish stricter guardrails for BNPL providers, arguing that consumer harm will occur absent action taken to reign in the...more
On August 29, the CFPB issued a consent order against a non-bank direct mortgage lender for misrepresenting the cost of its cash-out refinance loans, which are guaranteed under the VA home loan program, to active-duty...more
9/9/2024
/ Borrowers ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
Military Lending Act ,
Military Service Members ,
Misleading Statements ,
Mortgages ,
Refinancing ,
Veterans
On July 11, the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted the FTC’s request for a temporary restraining order against operators of a debt relief enterprise that unlawfully charged consumers illegal...more
Florida recently enacted H1347, revising the state’s criteria for what constitutes usurious consumer loans.
The Florida Consumer Finance Act prohibits charging an interest rate of more than 18% per year on a loan of...more
On June 25, the CFPB released a formal action to extend the compliance deadlines for its Section 1071 small business lending rule (previously discussed here, here, and here). Once issued, the rule was challenged in the United...more
On May 22, the CFPB announced an interpretive rule confirming that Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) lenders qualify as credit card providers under the Truth in Lending Act, Regulation Z and are required to provide consumers legal...more
The CFPB is continuing its crusade against so called “junk fees,” and now is looking at credit reporting fees. In a May 20 speech to the Mortgage Bankers Association, Director Rohit Chopra highlighted the rising costs of...more
On May 21, the Massachusetts Attorney General entered into an Assurance of Discontinuance (“AOD”) with a California-based fintech alleging that it was the “true lender” of its consumer installment loans. Under the terms of...more
On April 19, less than a month after Wisconsin’s enacted legislation, Kansas has followed suited by enacting comprehensive earned wages access legislation. Kansas’ law is set to take effect immediately upon publication....more
4/29/2024
/ Commercial Loans ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Kansas ,
Lenders ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
On April 17, the Kansas Legislature signed SB 345, to become the most recent state to enact disclosure requirements for small business lenders.
The law’s requirements apply to “providers” which are defined as persons who...more
4/22/2024
/ Commercial Loans ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Kansas ,
Lenders ,
New Legislation ,
Small Business ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
On March 25, Washington State became the latest in a growing list of jurisdictions to introduce a “true lender” law with the passing of bill SB 6025. The legislation, similar to laws in other states would characterize a...more
On March 25, a coalition of trade groups filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, challenging a Colorado law which would have opted the state Section 521 of the Depository Institutions...more
On March 1, the Louisiana Senate introduced SB 335, a bill that would place certain disclosure requirements on providers of commercial financing transactions. Specifically, “providers” (defined as persons who consummate more...more
On February 21, the Minnesota Attorney General settled an action against executives of a Montana-based tribal lender for alleged predatory lending practices. In its complaint, filed in October 2023, the AG alleged the company...more
On March 5, the New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit against a network of over 30 lending companies and their officers alleging their involvement in a predatory “merchant cash advance” lending scheme that exploited New...more
On February 23, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced its first public decision designating a nonbank lender for supervision based on the institution’s potential risk to consumers....more
In a move to bridge significant data gaps identified through its February 2023 Auto Finance Data Pilot where it sent information requests to nine large auto lenders about their lending portfolios, the Consumer Financial...more
On January 11, 2024, an administrative law judge for the NLRB issued an opinion holding that the employment agreement used by a major mortgage lender for all of its approximately 6,000 employees violates the National Labor...more
2/19/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employees ,
Employment Contract ,
Lenders ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
New Guidance ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Rulemaking Process
On December 4, Judge R. Gary Klausner of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted summary judgment to California’s DFPI upholding the recently adopted commercial financing disclosure regulations...more
12/29/2023
/ California ,
Commercial Loans ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Disclosure ,
Financial Institutions ,
Lenders ,
Lending ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Small Business ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
On October 9, Florida introduced SB 146, which amends the Florida Consumer Finance Act (CFA), and joins other states that have passed laws characterizing certain nonbanks as the “true lender” of loans made through a bank...more
On November 15, the CFPB issued an order requiring an Illinois-based fintech lender to pay $15 million in fines. The order additionally prohibits the company from operating in certain lines of business and requires revision...more
11/17/2023
/ Borrowers ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Informed Consent ,
Lenders ,
Redress Payments ,
Short-Term Loans
On October 18, the Senate voted 53-44 to approve S.J. Res. 32, a resolution sponsored by Sen. Kennedy (R-LA) to overturn the implementation of the CFPB’s final rule under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act requiring lenders...more
On October 12, the CFPB and DOJ issued a joint statement that reminds financial institutions that all credit applicants are protected from discrimination on the basis of their national origin, race, and other characteristics...more
10/20/2023
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Applicants ,
Credit History ,
Creditors ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Immigration ,
Immigration Status Discrimination ,
Joint Statements ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
Regulation B
On August 22, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against an installment lending company and several of its subsidiaries in South Carolina federal court, alleging that the company engaged in illegal “loan-churning” practices that...more