On February 3, an Illinois federal court dismissed a case brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) against Townstone Financial, Inc., a Chicago mortgage lender, for alleged violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) for purportedly discouraging prospective African American applicants in the Chicago metropolitan area from applying for mortgages. Townstone moved to
On February 1, the Superintendent of Financial Services Adrienne A. Harris announced that the New York State Department of Financial Services completed the process for adopting a new regulation relating to disclosure requirements for commercial financing. The regulation, 23 NYCRR 600, applies to multiple types of commercial financing products and requires providers to issue
In a case involving the application of Regulation E (Reg. E) to certain prepaid cards, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) submitted an amicus brief arguing that the error resolution procedures in Reg. E apply to pandemic-related unemployment benefits that are issued via prepaid cards.
Reg. E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA),
Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a proposed rule with request for public comment that would amend Regulation Z to: 1) decrease the safe harbor for credit card late fees to $8 and eliminate altogether a higher safe harbor amount for subsequent late payments; 2) eliminate the annual inflation adjustments for the late
On January 24, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it is seeking public comment on how the consumer credit market is functioning as part of its biennial review required by the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act). The CFPB will be accepting comments until April 24.
The CARD Act
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
Do “negative option” subscription services constitute unfair or deceptive practices under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA)? According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in its recent circular, these subscription services may violate the CFPA when a seller: 1) misrepresents or fails to clearly disclose the material terms of the program; (2) fails
On November 14, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Senior Deputy Comptroller for Bank Supervision Policy Grovetta Gardineer delivered keynote remarks at the 2022 CRA & Fair Lending Colloquium where she discussed the OCC’s commitment to “elevating fairness” and ongoing efforts to ensure its regulated institutions comply with the federal fair lending laws.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a $100 million settlement with Vonage over allegations that the internet phone service provider violated the FTC and Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) by adding “junk fees” and using “dark patterns” to make it difficult for consumers to cancel. In addition to the fine that will be used
On October 20, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, seeking public comment on the harms stemming from what it characterizes as “junk fees,” i.e., fees that are allegedly unnecessary, unavoidable, or unexpected, and that inflate costs while adding little value. The term also encompasses “hidden fees,” which are fees