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Jason’s in-depth experience advising on consumer lending matters both as in-house counsel and outside advisor provides extensive industry knowledge for his financial services clients.

Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski, holding that a district court must stay its proceedings while an interlocutory appeal on the question of arbitrability is pending. The decision resolves a circuit split on the question of whether such a stay is mandatory or discretionary. Justice Kavanaugh

As discussed here, in April 2023, Colorado introduced HB 1229 that proposed to limit certain charges on consumer loans and simultaneously opt Colorado out of sections 521-523 of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA). Sections 521-523 of DIDMCA empower state banks, insured state and federal savings associations and state credit unions to charge the interest allowed by the state where they are located, regardless of where the borrower is located and regardless of conflicting state law (i.e., “export” their home state’s interest-rate authority). However, section 525 of DIDMCA gives states the authority to opt out of sections 521-523. Indeed, Colorado initially opted out of DIDMCA when it was enacted, but later repealed its opt-out. This week HB 1229 was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis joining Colorado with Iowa and Puerto Rico as the only jurisdictions currently opting out.

Please join Troutman Pepper Partners Chris Willis and Jason Cover as they discuss the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) recent special edition Supervisory Highlights focused on “junk fees.” Chris and Jason dive into the report and talk about how this fits into the CFPB’s broader initiative on junk fees, what exactly constitutes a junk fee, the types of fees the CFPB identifies as problematic, if this means that creditors can’t charge any of these fees, and steps to take to mitigate risk when imposing fees.

On May 18, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed into law the Commerce Omnibus Bill, which, among other things, amends Minnesota Statute §§ 47.60 and 47.601 to cap the annual percentage rates (APR) on consumer small loans and consumer short-term loans at a 50% all-in APR, and expressly provides for predominant economic interest and totality

In 1980, Congress enacted the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA). Sections 521-523 of DIDMCA empower state banks, insured state and federal savings associations and state credit unions to charge the interest allowed by the state where they are located, regardless of where the borrower is located and regardless of conflicting state law

On March 23, SB 1033, An Act Concerning Various Revisions to the Banking Statutes, was given a favorable report by the Legislative Commissioners’ Office and sent to the Connecticut Senate. With this bill, Connecticut hopes to join several other states that have set strict rate caps on consumer loans, including Illinois, New Mexico, Colorado

On March 29, the New Mexico Financial Institutions Division of the Regulation and Licensing Department’s (NM FID) new rule on the New Mexico-Annual Percentage Rate (NM-APR) becomes effective. We previously blogged about New Mexico’s 36% APR cap on loans of $10,000 or less under the Small Loan Act (SLA) and Bank Installment Loan Act (BILA)

As we reported here, late last year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) signaled that it planned to increase scrutiny of the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) industry and issued its first report about BNPL. Yesterday, the CFPB issued a report exploring the financial profiles of BNPL borrowers. According to the CFPB, on average,

On January 1, 2023, House Bill 132 went into effect enacting a 36% annual percentage rate (APR) cap on loans up to $10,000 made under the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act of 1959 and the New Mexico Small Loan Act (SLA). The bill also expanded the SLA anti-evasion provision to closely track those provisions

On October 13, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced increased dollar thresholds used to determine whether certain consumer credit and lease transactions in 2023 are exempt from Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) and Regulation M (Consumer Leasing).

Specifically, based on the annual