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Chris Willis

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Chris is the co-leader of the Consumer Financial Services Regulatory practice at the firm. He advises financial services institutions facing state and federal government investigations and examinations, counseling them on compliance issues including UDAP/UDAAP, credit reporting, debt collection, and fair lending, and defending them in individual and class action lawsuits brought by consumers and enforcement actions brought by government agencies.

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In a major victory for small business lenders, yesterday the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted motions filed by three groups of trade association intervenors to extend the court’s existing injunction against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB or Bureau) enforcement of its final rule under § 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Final Rule) to cover all small business lenders nationwide. A discussion of the preliminary injunction issued by that Texas federal court on July 31 can be found here. The injunction in Texas Bankers Association v. CFPB will dissolve if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses the Fifth Circuit in Community Financial Services Association v CFPB (CFSA case), which found the CFPB’s funding structure unconstitutional.

On October 24, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Wisconsin Department of Justice announced a settlement with Wisconsin auto dealer group Rhinelander Auto Center, Inc. (Rhinelander), its current and former owners, and general manager. The lawsuit was brought under the FTC Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), the Wisconsin Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and the Wisconsin Consumer Act.

In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, Troutman Pepper Partners Chris Willis and Matthew Orso discuss lessons learned from bank internal investigations. They explore the trigger points that give rise to these investigations, provide useful advice for banks regarding their investigations, discuss how to avoid common issues, and suggest remedial measures to prevent issues from repeating.

In the last three weeks, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reached two more settlements with lenders under its Combatting Redlining Initiative, which began in October 2021. On September 27, the DOJ announced that Washington Trust Company agreed to pay $9 million to resolve allegations that it engaged in redlining majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Rhode Island. On October 19, the DOJ announced a separate $9 million agreement with Ameris Bank to resolve allegations that it engaged in redlining predominately Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Florida. And, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland, this is just the beginning. “[T]he Justice Department currently has over two dozen active investigations into redlining, spanning neighborhoods across the country.”

Join Troutman Pepper Partners Chris Willis, Mary Zinsner, and Dave Gettings for an in-depth discussion about litigating elder financial exploitation cases. Elder abuse and financial exploitation of the elderly are increasing problems in our society, and financial institutions are right in the thick of it. Chris, Mary, and Dave discuss trends in elder fraud litigation, offering insights on the common themes and defenses that financial institutions have in these cases.

On October 12, in its monthly bulletin the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (CA DFPI) announced that final regulations to implement the Student Loan Servicing Act and the Student Loans Borrower Rights Law have been approved and will become effective Jan. 1, 2024. Among other things, the rules clarify that all education financing products, including income share agreements (ISAs) and installment contracts, are student loans, and servicers of all such products are covered by the Student Loan Servicing Act and must be licensed.

On October 11, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued an advisory opinion regarding § 1034(c) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), which requires large banks and credit unions to comply in a timely manner with consumer requests for information concerning their accounts. This advisory opinion follows a June 2022 request for information where the CFPB asked for public input on customer service obstacles encountered when interacting with large financial institutions. According to the CFPB, this initiative is in response to large financial institutions moving away from “relationship banking.”

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) (collectively, the agencies) issued a joint statement on the subject of creditors’ use of immigration status for eligibility for credit transactions, an issue that has been kicking around in private litigation for years, but as to which the federal regulators have been silent. The joint statement warns lenders that “unnecessary or overbroad” reliance on immigration status in the credit decisioning process may violate the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and other federal laws. According to the agencies, the joint statement was issued in response to consumers reportedly being rejected for credit cards and loans because of their immigration status, even when they have strong credit histories and are otherwise qualified to receive the loans.

On October 11, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) published a special edition of its Supervisory Highlights report. This report serves as a “victory lap” for the Bureau, which highlights the relief it has obtained for consumers since the release of its March 2023 Special Fees Edition, discussed here. According to the Bureau, its supervisory efforts have led to institutions refunding over $140 million to consumers, including $120 million in overdraft and non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees.

Join Troutman Pepper Partners Chris Willis and Sheri Adler as they dive into the new requirement for publicly traded companies (including financial services companies) to adopt a clawback policy requiring the recoupment of erroneously awarded incentive compensation by December 1, 2023. Chris and Sheri discuss many facets of the rules and what steps companies can take to ensure compliance, including: