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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.

Please join Troutman Pepper Partner Chris Willis and his guests and colleagues Alan Wingfield and Noah DiPasquale as they discuss the recent advisory opinion from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on name-only matching under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Highlights include how the opinion was adopted, challenges furnishers and users will face in light of this opinion, and the potential impact for the credit reporting industry moving forward.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) agreed to a March 31, 2023 deadline to issue a final rule under Section 1071 of Dodd-Frank. Section 1071 amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to impose significant data collection requirements on small business creditors. The CFPB accepted the deadline as part of a previously agreed litigation settlement regarding alleged delays in the rulemaking process. The court accepted the deadline and maintained jurisdiction over the matter to oversee compliance with the settlement and to address any potential requests for modification.

Please join Troutman Pepper Partner Chris Willis and his guests and fellow Partners Keith Barnett and Ethan Ostroff as they discuss the recent request for comment from California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation on cryptocurrency-related financial products and services under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law. Keith and Ethan share their ideas about what this request for comment says about the direction California may take in the world of cryptocurrency.

On June 28, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) launched a focused campaign to highlight what it describes as unlawful regulatory overreach by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) and, specifically, new CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “At every turn,” writes Chamber Executive Vice President and Chief Counsel Daryl Joseffer, the CFPB is pushing

When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) unveiled its UDAAP exam manual at the end of March 2022, announcing that it had decided to interpret the word “unfair” in Dodd-Frank to prohibit discrimination, even where specific statutes like the Equal Credit Opportunity Act do not apply, we expressed skepticism about the viability of

Please join Troutman Pepper Partners Kim Phan and James Kim as they discuss the firm’s expanded capabilities in the fintech world, recent compliance issues for fintech companies, the CFPB’s dormant authority to supervise certain nonbank entities and its potential impact on fintech companies, as well as the CFPB’s trend to name individuals in enforcement actions.

On June 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued an advisory opinion focused on consumer debt collectors and the convenience fees they charge for some payments, such as online or by phone.

Convenience fees — common in many types of financial transactions — have recently been categorized as “junk fees” by the

On June 21, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit and a settlement framework with Meta Platforms, Inc. (previously known as Facebook) to resolve allegations that Meta’s advertising placement algorithms discriminate against Facebook users based on their race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, and national origin (Protected Characteristics) in violation of the Fair

Please join Troutman Pepper Partner Chris Willis and his guest and fellow Partner Stefanie Jackman as they discuss recent trends in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation, including how the landscape has changed since the Facebook decision, the increase in challenges to text and automated messaging, state law analogs and mini TCPA laws, and best practices for companies going forward.

In a keynote address at the Consumer Federation of America’s 2022 Consumer Assembly, CFPB Deputy Director Zixta Martinez squarely took aim at “rent-a-bank schemes” in some of the first (if not the first) such comments by a senior CFPB official. Historically, the CFPB has confined itself to “true lender” litigation against participants in high-rate