WebRecon’s latest July 2025 report shows that, after a temporary slowdown in June, consumer litigation and complaint activity have bounced back significantly. Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), Fair Debt Collection...more
In a recent enforcement action highlighting its ongoing scrutiny of deceptive debt relief schemes, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has shut down an operation accused of falsely representing affiliations with government...more
WebRecon’s latest June 2025 report continues to reveal a general rise in the consumer complaint and litigation landscape based on year-to-date (YTD) figures. Since May 2025, Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation...more
On June 2, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a decisive ruling in a case involving allegations that certain debt-relief service providers illegally collected advance fees in violation of the...more
On Thursday, March 13, 2025, New York Attorney General (“NYAG”) Letitia James advanced newly proposed legislation to better protect consumers and small businesses from unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices (“UDAP”). This...more
On February 28, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) filed a letter with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York in a case brought by the CFPB and seven state attorneys...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) has recently made headlines in the past month under the Trump administration due to an extensive freeze on its core functions, headquarters closure, the...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been a focal point for both regulatory oversight and political debate arguably since its inception. Created in 2010 as a response to the financial crisis, the CFPB is still...more
2/11/2025
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
State Attorneys General ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In recent weeks, we have seen an increase in prosecution by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and state attorneys general against debt relief companies and law firms. Additionally, the focus on these debt...more
On January 24, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) proposed a new rule, which would expand its crackdown on junk fees. In February 2023, almost a year ago, we wrote about the CFPB’s initial effort to curb...more
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
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
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 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 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 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
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
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 3, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a policy statement summarizing over a decade of precedent and explaining the legal prohibition on abusive conduct in consumer financial markets. The...more
On March 23, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has taken action against one of the largest debt collectors in the United States, Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA), for various violations of law,...more
3/29/2023
/ Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Documentation ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) ,
Penalties ,
Refunds ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The California Consumer Financial Protection Law (“CCFPL”), established in September of 2020 under Governor Newsom, augmented the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation’s (“DFPI”) authoritative ability by increasing...more
3/28/2023
/ California ,
California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) ,
Check Cashing ,
Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (CCRAA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Repair Services ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Settlement Services ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Fees ,
Financing ,
Lead Generators ,
Licensing Rules ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Registration Requirement ,
Rent-to-Own Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retail Sales ,
Student Loans
On March 16, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a bulletin cautioning loan servicers about their responsibility to stop any illegal activity related to private student loans that have been discharged...more
3/23/2023
/ Bankruptcy Court ,
Bankruptcy Discharge Order ,
Borrowers ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Debt ,
Debt Collection ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Illegal Activity ,
Lenders ,
Loan Servicer ,
Loans ,
Student Loans
On March 15, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced an inquiry into companies that gather and track information about people's personal lives. The apparent purpose of this inquiry is to gain a better...more