On September 15, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff published a detailed FAQ on price transparency in auto advertising, and it’s worth a close read no matter which side of the deal you sit on: sales, Finance & Insurance (F&I), or compliance.
Mortgage Bankers Association Challenges New Jersey’s Disparate Impact Rule in Federal Court
As we reported in December 2025, New Jersey’s Division on Civil Rights (DCR) adopted what its Attorney General described as the “most comprehensive state-level disparate impact regulations in the country” under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD). Those rules, effective December 15, 2025, codify a broad burden-shifting framework for disparate impact claims across housing, lending, employment, public accommodations, and contracting, and include specific guidance on liability arising from the use of artificial intelligence and automated decision-making tools. Now, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has filed suit to stop them.
Colorado’s ADMT Act Proposed Regulations: Unpacking the Confusion and Compliance Challenges for Financial Services
In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, host Chris Willis is joined by colleague Kim Phan to break down the proposed regulations recently released by the Colorado attorney general (AG) under the Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT) Act, Colorado’s newly amended AI statute, and explain why the financial services industry needs to engage before these rules are finalized.
The FTC Caught Up: What You Need to Know About Its Latest Disparate Impact Statement
In this crossover edition of Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast and The Consumer Finance Podcast, hosts Brooke Conkle, Chris Capurso, and Chris Willis break down the FTC’s policy statement abandoning disparate impact enforcement under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act. The group traces the reversal to two key drivers — a reassessment of the FTC’s statutory authority and President Trump’s executive order directing agencies to deprioritize disparate impact liability — while placing the move in the broader context of similar rollbacks at the CFPB and federal banking regulators. They also examine what remaining exposure looks like at the state level, particularly in New York and New Jersey, and close with a clear message for compliance officers: fair lending is far from dead, the current federal retreat is best understood as a vacation rather than a permanent reprieve, and paying close attention to regulatory signals now can be a meaningful competitive advantage down the road.
The FTC Caught Up: What You Need to Know About Its Latest Disparate Impact Statement
In this crossover edition of Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast and The Consumer Finance Podcast, hosts Brooke Conkle, Chris Capurso, and Chris Willis break down the FTC’s policy statement abandoning disparate impact enforcement under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act. The group traces the reversal to two key drivers — a reassessment of the FTC’s statutory authority and President Trump’s executive order directing agencies to deprioritize disparate impact liability — while placing the move in the broader context of similar rollbacks at the CFPB and federal banking regulators. They also examine what remaining exposure looks like at the state level, particularly in New York and New Jersey, and close with a clear message for compliance officers: fair lending is far from dead, the current federal retreat is best understood as a vacation rather than a permanent reprieve, and paying close attention to regulatory signals now can be a meaningful competitive advantage down the road.
California’s New Consumer Protection Secretary: What Chopra’s Appointment Signals for the Financial Services Industry
- Governor Gavin Newsom appointed former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra as inaugural secretary of California’s new Business and Consumer Services Agency (BCSA) on May 12, 2026, with the agency launching July 1, 2026.
- The BCSA does not expand the DFPI’s statutory authority under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL), but Chopra’s role as
Are Text Messages Calls? Seventh Circuit’s Steidinger Decision Reshapes TCPA Litigation Landscape
In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, host Chris Willis is joined by colleagues Stefanie Jackman and Brian Hays to discuss the Seventh Circuit’s landmark July 2026 ruling in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services, a unanimous decision holding that text messages do not qualify as “telephone calls” under § 227(c)(5) of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), eliminating a private right of action for National Do Not Call Registry violations based solely on text message communications.
Federal Agencies Jointly Rescind 2022 Interagency Statement on Special Purpose Credit Programs
On August 25, seven federal agencies — the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau), National Credit Union Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of Justice, and Federal Housing Finance Agency (the agencies) — jointly rescinded the February 2022 “Interagency Statement on Special Purpose Credit Programs Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B,” effective immediately upon Federal Register publication. The agencies’ stated reason for the rescission was to clarify that creditors may not discriminate against borrowers based on prohibited characteristics, and that creditors should not rely on the Interagency Statement or related guidance going forward concerning special purpose credit programs (SPCPs). Curiously, the Federal Reserve Board, which joined in issuing the original Interagency Statement, was not a party to the notice of rescission, instead electing to separately withdraw its own version rather than join the other agencies in the joint rescission.
FTC and Connecticut Secure $4 Million Settlement with Manchester City Nissan Over Deceptive Fees
More than two years after filing suit, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong have secured a $4 million settlement with Manchester, Connecticut auto dealer Chase Nissan LLC, doing business as Manchester City Nissan, along with its owners and managers, resolving allegations of widespread deceptive fee practices targeting consumers in the car-buying process.
CFPB Ends Publication of Consumer Complaint Narratives and Data Visualizations
This article was republished on insideARM on August 25, 2026.
On August 14, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) announced that it is ceasing the discretionary publication of unverified consumer complaint narratives and related data visualizations in its Consumer Complaint Database. The move represents a significant change to one of the Bureau’s most publicly visible data tools that will meaningfully reduce reputational risk for financial institutions and financial services companies.