Photo of Joseph DeFazio

Joseph DeFazio has extensive experience as a trial and appellate litigator in federal and state courts. He represents and advises a wide array of financial services companies in matters related to consumer protection laws and regulations.

As New York considers reopening the State’s economy after a months-long shutdown, legislators recently reached an agreement with private student loan servicers to provide financial relief to borrowers. Spearheaded by the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”), the agreement supplements the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), by extending

Several coronavirus (“COVID-19”) response bills were introduced in the New Jersey Senate this past week. Among them is the “COVID-19 Financial Security for Consumers Act,” which aims to prohibit creditors and debt collectors from collection activities during the pandemic and requires health insurance carriers to cover treatment for COVID-19. A summary of the

New Jersey Gov. Phillip Murphy announced on March 28 that homeowners whose finances have been affected by the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) would get a 90-day reprieve on their mortgage payments.

According to the announcement, lenders must waive late fees and other expenses that a borrower would incur due to the grace period.

On January 24, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a policy statement that limits the “abusive acts and practices” standard created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. While the policy statement does not define what constitutes an “abusive” act or practice, and in fact leaves many important questions unanswered, it plainly limits the scope of the

Massachusetts is proposing a bill to regulate student loan servicers and bring the Commonwealth in line with other states, including Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington, all of which have passed new legislation to regulate the student loan industry. Similar legislation recently has been introduced, but not

Effective October 16, the New York State Department of Financial Services adopted final regulations impacting student loan servicers operating in the state. The legislation, titled Article 14-A, passed in April 2019 and imposes new licensing requirements and servicing standards on institutions that service loans for borrowers residing in New York. The new regulations will affect

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is amending Regulation C under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), extending the current temporary threshold for collecting and reporting data about open-end lines of credit until January 1, 2022. The rule also incorporates partial exemptions from the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act

With oversight from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is preparing revisions to its rules aimed at amending the process for expungement filings and hearings. FINRA believes its new rules will increase the level of scrutiny on licensed brokers and financial advisors seeking to erase customer complaints from their regulatory records.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing changes to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (commonly referred to as “Dodd-Frank”). State attorneys general from 28 states have banded together to comment on the changes, which may impact an estimated 49 million American consumers who

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, while permitting personal liability against officers and directors, continues to shield related corporate entities from liability. The same corporate formalities that impose liability on officers and directors ironically work to shield corporate entities from the same liability.  

In Holland v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, plaintiff Steven W. Holland sued