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Caleb is counsel in the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Practice Group. He focuses his practice on helping federal and state-chartered banks, fintech companies, finance companies, and licensed lenders navigate regulatory risks posed by state and federal laws aimed at protecting consumers and small businesses in the credit and alternative finance products industry.

In a recent decision, a federal district court for the Central District of California denied a motion to dismiss filed by the Commissioner of the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) finding that California’s recently adopted Commercial Financing Disclosures Law (CFDL) may violate the plaintiff’s First Amendment rights or be preempted by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA).

Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued a policy statement purporting to summarize, in clear and simple terms, the meaning of the statutory prohibition on abusive conduct. Policy statements are intended to provide background information about laws under the CFPB’s jurisdiction and articulate how the CFPB will enforce those laws, but are

On March 23, SB 1033, An Act Concerning Various Revisions to the Banking Statutes, was given a favorable report by the Legislative Commissioners’ Office and sent to the Connecticut Senate. With this bill, Connecticut hopes to join several other states that have set strict rate caps on consumer loans, including Illinois, New Mexico, Colorado

As promised (and discussed here), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its final rule under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Final Rule). Section 1071 amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to impose significant data collection requirements on small business creditors. According to the press release announcing the Final Rule’s issuance, “[l]enders will collect and report information about the small business credit applications they receive, including geographic and demographic data, lending decisions, and the price of credit.”

As discussed here, on December 7, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) made a preliminary conclusion that New York’s Commercial Financing Law (the New York law) was not preempted by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), and was also considering whether to make a preemption determination regarding similar state laws in California

On March 2, Florida State Representative Doug Bankston introduced HB1353, the Florida Commercial Financing Disclosure Law, that would mandate covered commercial financing companies provide consumer-like disclosures for certain commercial financing transactions. The law would also define and prohibit specific acts by brokers of those transactions, including the collection of advance fees. New York, California, Utah

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it is launching an inquiry into the small business credit reporting industry. Specifically, it is ordering five firms to provide detailed information about their products and processes.

According to the FTC, the impetus for this inquiry is that unlike consumer reports, which are governed by the Fair Credit

On March 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a compliance bulletin entitled Unfair Billing and Collection Practices After Bankruptcy Discharges of Certain Student Loan Debts. The compliance bulletin focused on the treatment of certain private student loans following a bankruptcy discharge. It’s also another example of the CFPB’s efforts to expand bankruptcy

Last year, Missouri State Senator Justin Brown (R) introduced a bill that would have imposed certain mandatory disclosure requirements for commercial financing transactions. Ultimately, the bill failed to advance. On December 1, 2022, Senator Brown reintroduced a similar bill, known as SB 187, which also requires registration of a commercial financing broker. The bill

As reported here, on September 9, 2022, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (CA DFPI) published a notice of rulemaking action, proposing amendments to the Student Loan Servicing Act.

The proposed rules clarify that all education financing products, including income share agreements (ISAs) and installment contracts, are student loans, and servicers of