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.

On May 19, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued an interpretive rule, describing states’ authorities to pursue companies and individuals that allegedly violate any of the federal consumer financial laws enforced by the CFPB.

CFPB Director Rohit Chopra described this action as “promoting state enforcement, not suffocating it.” It openly invites

Join Troutman Pepper Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and fellow Partners Cindy Hanson and Tim St. George as they discuss current trends in Fair Credit Reporting Act litigation.

Both Cindy and Tim are recognized nationally on issues related to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Cindy has handled more than a thousand matters under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including hundreds of class actions. Tim has extensive experience handling Fair Credit Reporting Act matters, including those related to employment background screening, as well as class-action litigation.

On May 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) announced that it will launch a new initiative to provide guidance to other agencies with consumer financial protection responsibilities on how the CFPB intends to enforce “Federal consumer financial law.” 12 U.S.C § 5481(14).

The CFPB will use Consumer Financial Protection Circulars, described

In our inaugural episode, Troutman Pepper Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis welcomes fellow CFS Partner Lori Sommerfield in a discussion on the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent guidance on website accessibility for state and local governments and for public accommodations under Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

On May 6, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released its Fair Lending Report for 2021. As in 2020’s report, published last year, the CFPB shows that its focus remains on what it characterizes as “financial inclusion, racial and economic equity, and fair competition”:

“As part of the prioritization process, the CFPB

Tuesday, May 17 • 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET

The CFPB’s recent announcement that it will now be examining non-credit products, services, and processes for discrimination under the Bureau’s UDAAP authority raises the question of how financial services companies should go about testing various aspects of their operations for potential discrimination. In this webinar, we

On May 2, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released its Supervisory Highlights report on legal violations discovered during examinations in the second half of 2021.

The Supervisory Highlights detail issues identified by CFPB examination teams across a wide number of segments of the consumer financial services industry. Summarized below are those issues

On April 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released Spanish language translations for certain model and sample forms included in the Prepaid Rule in Regulation E and for certain adverse action model and sample notices included in Regulation B.

The Bureau also used the announcement as an “opportunity to remind financial institutions

On April 25, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) announced that it would begin invoking a provision in Dodd-Frank, previously used only infrequently, to conduct supervisory examinations over a greater number of nonbank financial companies that may “pose risks to consumers.”

Under Dodd-Frank, the CFPB has authority to examine three categories of nonbank