Photo of Chris Willis

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.

Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Dave Gettings in this inaugural crossover episode with Partner Chris Willis of The Consumer Finance Podcast in welcoming their guests and fellow Partners Cindy Hanson and David Anthony. Dave, Chris, Cindy, and David unite to discuss the 2022 year in review of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and a look ahead for the next year.

On February 14, Patrice Ficklin, the Fair Lending Director for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), together with senior officials from the Federal Reserve Board, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency, and U.S. Department of

On February 14, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) published a blog discussing improvements made to its services with the goal of providing the same experience to consumers with limited English proficiency (LEP) that its English-speaking consumers receive. These improvements include redesigned website landing pages in seven languages and the ability to accept

Can websites or mobile apps that offer ranked lists of mortgage providers purportedly best suited for individual consumers violate section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Practices Act (RESPA)? According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) in its recent advisory opinion, these digital platforms may violate the RESPA if the platform:

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 Opportunity Act (ECOA) for purportedly discouraging prospective African American applicants in the Chicago metropolitan area from applying for mortgages. Townstone moved to

Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a proposed rule with request for public comment that would amend Regulation Z to: 1) decrease the safe harbor for credit card late fees to $8 and eliminate altogether a higher safe harbor amount for subsequent late payments; 2) eliminate the annual inflation adjustments for the late

The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) generally prohibits insured state banks, but not uninsured state member banks, from acting as principal in activities that are not permissible for national banks. Relying on its authority under the FDIA to limit the activities of state member banks, on January 27, 2023, the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) issued

On January 24, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it is seeking public comment on how the consumer credit market is functioning as part of its biennial review required by the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act). The CFPB will be accepting comments until April 24.

The CARD Act

Do “negative option” subscription services constitute unfair or deceptive practices under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA)? According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in its recent circular, these subscription services may violate the CFPA when a seller: 1) misrepresents or fails to clearly disclose the material terms of the program; (2) fails