This article highlights the few newsworthy actions and events we wrote about the debt settlement industry throughout the year. The debt settlement industry did see some movement by regulatory bodies across the board, though...more
12/20/2023
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Settlement Services ,
Debt-Relief Industry ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Injunctions ,
Marketing ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Robocalling ,
Student Loans
Prepaid legal plans offer coverage that grants individuals and families access to a network of qualified attorneys in exchange for a predetermined monthly or annual fee. With legal expense plans, participants can receive...more
On November 20, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it had partnered with the 11 States of California, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina,...more
On November 7, 2023, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) proposed a new rule that calls for federal regulatory oversight of large nonbank companies that offer digital wallets and payment apps to consumers. The...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) continues focus its forces on the payment processing space. In June 2023, we published an article foretelling the next regulatory frontier: nonbank payment systems. In July...more
On September 6, 2023, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office (“Minnesota”) announced that it has begun investigating the operations of more than 50 student-loan debt-relief companies suspected of violating consumer...more
On July 26, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) published its periodic Supervisory Highlights, summer edition. These most recent Supervisory Highlights shed light on a range of unfair, deceptive, and...more
7/27/2023
/ Bank Deposits ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Debt Collection ,
EFTA ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Information Technology ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Popular ,
Small Dollar Lenders ,
Supervisory Highlights
On July 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the FTC, along with over 100 federal and state law enforcement partners, have launched an extensive campaign named "Operation Stop Scam Calls" to combat the...more
7/20/2023
/ Consumer Information ,
Data Collection ,
Disclosure ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Lead Generators ,
Robocalling ,
Scams ,
State Attorneys General ,
Telemarketing ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule ,
Telephone Service Providers ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
VoIP ,
Websites
As a reminder, on July 20, 2023, the following revisions, among others, will come into effect regarding the TCPA. One of the essential changes to the TCPA regulations is that residential telephone subscribers will now have...more
On July 11, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a consent order against Bank of America (BoA) based on the CFPB’s findings that BoA had engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices. This consent...more
On June 30, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) introduced a groundbreaking proposal to combat deceptive marketing practices involving fake reviews and endorsements. This proposed rule aims to protect consumers seeking...more
On June 27, 2023, the CFPB reached a consent order with the companies regarding the more than 1.4 million erroneous electronic fund transfer payment instructions initiated by ACI through the ACH Network. The CFPB considers...more
On June 21, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a civil lawsuit against Amazon, alleging the use of "dark patterns" to deceive consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions. What is...more
On June 14, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will be providing over $3.3 million in payments to consumers who fell victim to the deceptive practices of Arete Financial Group (“Arete Financial”), a...more
Minnesota -
On May 24, 2023, the governor of Minnesota signed SF 2744, bringing amendments to various state statutes related to financial institutions. The amendments address the regulation and licensing of money...more
The CFPB is shifting its focus to FinTech and nonbank payment systems, circling back to past frontiers. This recent warning echoes the sentiment of former CFPB’s Director, Richard Cordray, focusing heavily on FinTechs and...more
On May 31, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took decisive action against installment lender OneMain Financial, demanding the payment of $20 million in penalties and redress. In the consent order, the...more
Just last week, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued XCast Labs, Inc., a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider, for its alleged involvement in facilitating illegal robocalls. Despite receiving multiple warnings, the...more
On May 5, 2023, the New York Attorney General, Letitia James, proposed a “landmark” bill to increase regulations (again) on the cryptocurrency industry, thereby supposedly protecting investors, consumers, and the broader...more
5/11/2023
/ Audits ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumers ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Financial Statements ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investor Protection ,
Investors ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
State Attorneys General ,
Transparency
“This is far from Plaintiff Na’eem Betz’s first rodeo. A frequent pro se filer, he brings this TCPA action against Synchrony Bank for allegedly calling him over 80 times using an autodialer and pre-recorded message,” stated...more
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) obtained temporary restraining orders against two student debt relief companies in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The FTC thereby temporarily...more
5/9/2023
/ CARES Act ,
COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act ,
Debt-Relief Industry ,
Deceptive Intent ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Injunctions ,
Loan Repayment Issues ,
Restraining Orders ,
Student Loans
On April 28, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) obtains multiple orders banning operators of an alleged credit card debt relief scheme based in Tennessee, who agreed to the court orders which permanently ban them from...more
On April 26, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released an advisory opinion to clarify that it is against the law for a debt collector to sue or threaten to sue in order to collect a time-barred debt, as...more
4/26/2023
/ Advisory Opinions ,
Affirmative Defenses ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
FDCPA ,
Foreclosure ,
Jurisdiction ,
Mortgages ,
Regulation F ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Time-Barred Debt
On April 24, 2023, in a bold move, Coinbase took legal action against the SEC to push for regulatory clarity in the cryptocurrency industry. The company filed a narrow action in federal court, asking the SEC to respond to its...more
On April 6, 2023, the US Department of the Treasury released a report analyzing the risks of decentralized finance (DeFi) and potential vulnerabilities in the United States' anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the...more