A federal court in Maine recently held that the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1681, et seq., preempts burdensome credit reporting restrictions imposed by the Maine Fair Credit Reporting Act. “By seeking to exclude additional types of information” from consumer credit reports, the court held that “the Maine Amendments
On October 22, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced the launch of its new consumer fraud-reporting website at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The website will provide a reporting platform allowing consumer to directly report instances of fraud to the FTC, as well as related consumer issues under the FTC’s purview.
The FTC touted the platform’s “streamlined
On September 21, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced the settlement of its administrative proceeding against Lobel Financial Corporation (“Lobel”) – a California automobile lender that the CFPB claimed had engaged in unfair practices with respect to its Loss Damage Waiver (“LDW”) product. The action against Lobel alleged multiple violations of the Consumer
On July 27, 2020, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania confirmed that a plaintiff lacks Article III standing to state a claim for violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) premised solely on the failure to receive a copy of the background report and the statute’s procedurally-required summary of rights. In Davis v. C&D Sec.
On July 13, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a study, entitled “Targeting Credit Builder Loans: Insights from a Credit Builder Loan Evaluation” and an accompanying practitioner’s guide – ultimately concluding that a credit builder loan (“CBL”) could increase the likelihood of establishing a credit record for consumers without one, and could help
On June 18, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launched a pilot advisory opinion (“AO”) program in an effort to address some uncertainty in its existing regulations and make that process more public.
The program will allow entities to seek direct guidance on uncertainties they have with regulatory requirements that the CFPB oversees. The Bureau will
On June 16, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a seven-page FAQ memorandum addressing some of the most critical questions for compliance with the new consumer reporting requirements of the “CARES Act”. In sum, this Compliance Aid:
On May 14, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reached an $18 million settlement with mortgage lender Monster Loans (a/k/a Chou Team Realty LLC) and several individual, related entities to resolve allegations that they impermissibly and duplicitously obtained credit reports for their associated student loan debt-relief companies, which, in turn, used the consumer reports to deceptively
On April 17, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Ponte Investments, LLC – a Rhode Island-based company – and its owner, John C. Ponte, claiming that they misrepresented Ponte Investments as an approved small business lender for the federal coronavirus (“COVID-19”) relief program. The FTC has sought a permanent injunction and other equitable
On March 17, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered all employees – not just those in the most affected regions – to begin working from home given the rapid spread of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”). CFPB Director Kathleen Kraninger sent an email to all CFPB employees in the evening of March 17 stating that a prior