The Department of Defense (DoD) dramatically expanded the scope of the Military Lending Act (MLA) on July 22, 2015, publishing its Final Rule amending the MLA’s implementing regulation. MLA coverage was previously limited to...more
7/28/2015
/ Automotive Loans ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Unions ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Financial Services Authority ,
Higher Education Act ,
Lenders ,
Military Lending Act ,
Military Service Members ,
Payday Loans ,
Regulation Z ,
Title IV
We recently wrote about three studies that cast serious doubt on the benefit to payday loan borrowers of an ability-to-repay requirement, a payment-to-income (PTI) ratio ceiling, and rollover limits, three potential payday...more
We recently wrote about two studies, one by Professor Ronald Mann and the other by Professor Jennifer Lewis Priestley, that cast serious doubt on the benefit to payday loan borrowers of an ability-to-repay requirement and...more
The CFPB’s payday loan rulemaking was the subject of a NY Times article this past Sunday which has received considerable attention. According to the article, the CFPB will “soon release” its proposal which is expected to...more
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced a settlement with two online payday lenders to resolve charges that they violated the FTC Act, the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA). The...more
“Waiting for the CFPB’s arbitration study” isn’t the title of a new play but it does describe the study’s status as we enter the final hours of 2014.
Since the CFPB sent letters to payday lenders in August 2014...more
The consumer financial services attorney (the petitioner) who sued the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and its superintendent, Benjamin Lawsky, to obtain access to DFS’s database of alleged illegal...more
A consumer financial services attorney (the petitioner) recently filed a petition in New York state court against the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and its superintendent, Benjamin Lawsky. The lawsuit...more
The Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA), the national trade association for the payday lending industry, has filed a memorandum in support of its previously filed lawsuit against the agencies it accuses...more
The Pew Charitable Trusts has released the fourth report in its “Payday Lending in America” series. The new report examines issues with the online payday loan market and draws distinctions with the storefront-based payday...more
In a clash of competing sovereigns’ interests, the Second Circuit recently upheld, for now, the authority of the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) to regulate online payday loans made by Indian tribal lenders to...more
We recently learned that earlier this month, the CFPB sent letters to payday lenders demanding copies of certain of their standard loan agreements for use in connection with the CFPB’s arbitration study. The letters are...more
The New York Attorney General recently announced a settlement with Forster & Garbus, a large debt collection law firm that had filed collection actions against consumers arising out of payday loans. Specifically, Attorney...more
In a shot across the bow of online payday lenders who allegedly disregard state law where their borrowers reside, a New York County grand jury recently voted a criminal usury and conspiracy indictment against 12 companies...more
In an unexpected move earlier this week, the FDIC issued a Financial Institution Letter (FIL) announcing that it was withdrawing the list of “risky” merchant categories that was included in prior guidance on account...more
"Operation Choke Point," the coordinated multiagency federal effort to choke off banking services to alleged fraudsters (according to its defenders) or politically unpopular industries (according to its detractors), has come...more
6/13/2014
/ ACH Payments ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Banks ,
Choke Point ,
Community Financial Services Association ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FDIC ,
Fraud ,
OCC ,
Payday Loans
In its Spring 2014 Supervisory Highlights report issued yesterday, the CFPB highlighted deficiencies and violations it found during examinations of consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), debt collectors and payday lenders. The...more
In an enforcement action alleging violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) and other federal laws by tribally affiliated entities that operated an Internet payday lending operation, a Nevada federal court...more
On January 24, 2014, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that a settlement had been reached with Western Sky Financial, LLC, Cash Call, Inc., WS Funding, LLC, and their principals for alleged violations of...more
In a state enforcement action alleging violations of California’s lending law and seeking to enjoin continued lending to state residents, a California Court of Appeal has ruled that tribal sovereign immunity shielded the two...more
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) opened a new front in its campaign against the payday lending industry by subpoenaing 16 online lead generation firms that allegedly collected and sold consumers’...more
A settlement with the operator of five Buffalo-area debt collection companies announced on November 21, 2013, by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman marks the latest chapter in the Attorney General's targeting of...more
The CFPB has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in The Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians et al. v. New York Department of Financial Services et al., a case stemming from New York’s...more
The CFPB has announced that its consumer complaint system is now accepting complaints about payday loans. In describing the issue involved in a complaint, a consumer can choose from the following...more
The Pew Charitable Trusts has released the third report in its “Payday Lending in America” series. The new report makes policy recommendations that are intended to apply to all small-dollar consumer cash loans (other than...more