As has been well-documented, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) is navigating a period of significant uncertainty. Just last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated a...more
8/22/2025
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
ECOA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Layoffs ,
Mortgage Loan Originators ,
Mortgages ,
Open Banking ,
Payday Lending Rule ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Small Business ,
UDAAP
On March 13, New York State introduced proposed legislation titled the Fostering Affordability and Integrity Through Reasonable Business Practices Act (FAIR Act). The proposed legislation seeks to broaden the scope of...more
6/17/2025
/ Abusive Acts ,
Affirmative Defenses ,
Article III ,
Debt Collection ,
Financial Services Industry ,
General-Business ,
Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
New York ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Standing ,
Student Loans ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) submitted several regulatory proposals to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. Among the rules under consideration are those related to...more
6/10/2025
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Loan Originators ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
OMB ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation X ,
Regulation Z ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform
This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released a memo to staff outlining its new supervision and enforcement priorities for 2025....more
4/18/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fair Lending ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgages ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Supervisory Guidance ,
Trump Administration
In a significant policy shift under the Trump administration, the new Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte issued an order on March 25, 2025 terminating special purpose credit programs (SPCPs) supported...more
3/28/2025
/ Banks ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
ECOA ,
Equal Access to Credit ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Fannie Mae ,
FHFA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Freddie Mac ,
GSE ,
Housing Market ,
HUD ,
Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Trump Administration
On October 29, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the state’s Division on Civil Rights (DCR) released a report detailing the findings of a multi-year investigation into Republic First Bank (Republic) and its...more
11/1/2024
/ Banks ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Redlining
On October 10, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a landmark redlining settlement with Citadel Federal Credit Union (Citadel), marking the first such agreement with a credit union in the DOJ’s history. This...more
10/14/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Access to Credit ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Loans ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining ,
Statutory Violations
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) announced it had entered into a consent order with NewDay USA, a Florida-based non-bank direct mortgage lender, over allegations that the lender misled...more
9/3/2024
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Delinquent Borrowers ,
Department of Veterans Affairs ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Refinancing ,
Veterans
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) recently released its semi-annual regulatory agenda, outlining its planned rulemaking initiatives. The CFPB releases regulatory agendas twice a year in voluntary...more
7/22/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Delinquent Borrowers ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Loss Mitigation ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgage Servicing Rules ,
Mortgages ,
Nonbank Firms ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation AA ,
Regulation X ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process
As discussed here, on February 3, 2023, an Illinois federal court dismissed a case brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) in 2020 against Townstone Financial, Inc., a Chicago mortgage lender, for...more
7/15/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Regulation B ,
Statutory Violations
On May 1, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced new policies that will allow borrowers to challenge property appraisals they believe to be inaccurate or biased....more
5/3/2024
/ Appraisal ,
Borrowers ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Fannie Mae ,
FHFA ,
Freddie Mac ,
Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
New Regulations ,
Real Estate Market ,
Real Estate Transactions
On April 24, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released a special edition of its Supervisory Highlights report focusing on examinations of the residential mortgage servicing market that were completed...more
4/29/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Fees ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Regulation X ,
Supervisory Highlights ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On March 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released its Consumer Response Annual Report, providing a high-level overview of the 1,657,600 consumer complaints received by the Bureau from January 1...more
4/5/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Automotive Loans ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Cards ,
Debt Collection ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fraud ,
Mortgages ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Student Loans
On March 18, Rohit Chopra, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), submitted comments to the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) regarding its oversight of The Appraisal Foundation. Director Chopra, who serves...more
For the last two years, the federal regulatory agencies have been waging a war on redlining by mortgage lenders — a war that shows no signs of abating.
Originally published in Law360 - December 12, 2023....more
3/12/2024
/ Banks ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining
We are pleased to share our annual review of regulatory and legal developments in the consumer financial services industry. With active federal and state legislatures, consumer financial services providers faced a challenging...more
2/1/2024
/ Automotive Loans ,
Banks ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Debt Collection ,
Digital Assets ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Mortgages ,
Student Loans ,
Tribal Loans ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
On August 28, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its eighth redlining settlement under its Combatting Redlining Initiative. The settlement between the DOJ and the American Bank of Oklahoma, which originated from a...more
8/31/2023
/ Banks ,
Consent Order ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
FDIC ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining ,
Settlement
On July 26, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released the summer edition of its Supervisory Highlights report, providing a high-level overview of alleged unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or...more
7/28/2023
/ Automated Clearing House (ACH) ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Military Lending Act ,
Mortgages ,
Payday Lending Rule ,
Supervisory Highlights ,
UDAAP
As shown by a new report, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) is focusing its fair lending work on mortgage origination and pricing, small business lending, redlining, and the use of artificial...more
7/10/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
ECOA ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HMDA ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Loan Originators ,
Mortgages ,
NCUA ,
Redlining
On June 29, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) announced the availability of data on 2022 mortgage lending transactions reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) by U.S. financial...more
With a roll-out led by Vice President Harris, the federal financial services regulators have released the long-awaited proposed automated valuation model (AVM) rule, referencing both home appraisal bias in mortgage lending...more
6/5/2023
/ Appraisal ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Property Valuation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Secondary Markets
On April 14, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) submitted a statement of interest to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida arguing that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act’s (ECOA) prohibition...more
On February 28, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its sixth redlining settlement under its Combatting Redlining Initiative. This most recent case involves an agreement between the DOJ and Ohio-based Park National...more
On February 3, an Illinois federal court dismissed a case brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) against Townstone Financial, Inc., a Chicago mortgage lender, for alleged violations of the Equal Credit...more