On July 20, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a group of plaintiffs who sued Neiman Marcus over the theft of their credit card information in a data security breach had standing to sue for fraudulent charges, as well as fraud-prevention expenses and credit monitoring. The appellate court reversed a prior decision from
Director Cordray Comments on Ability-to-Repay, TRID, and Credit Cards
On July 15, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) Director Richard Cordray provided insightful testimony on a number of subjects in an appearance before the Senate Banking Committee. During the question-and-answer session, Cordray indicated that the CFPB will be revisiting the income-verification standards of the Ability-to-Repay Rule at some point in the near term. He commented
CFPB Settles Credit Card Add-On Lawsuits for Combined $10 million
On July 1, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it had agreed to consent orders in pending lawsuits against two sets of defendants – Affinion Group Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries (“Affinion”), as well as Intersections, Inc. (“Intersections”) – over allegations that the vendors had unfairly charged consumers for credit card add-on benefits that
FTC Sending Nearly $4 Million to Consumers Extorted in Credit Card Debt Collection Scam
As we discussed last year, the Federal Trade Commission announced in May 2014 that it settled charges against Asset Capital and Management Group for illegally extracting payments from consumers for credit card debt that it had purchased from creditors.
In addition to banning the defendants – which includes individuals behind the scheme, a network
ACA Provides Commentary to CFPB on Credit Card Market
On June 17, ACA International – a trade group representing collection agencies and attorneys, creditors, debt buyers, and industry service providers – presented substantive comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in response to the agency’s recent request for information related to the consumer credit card market. The CFPB’s request contained four debt collection questions,
ACA Provides Commentary to CFPB on Credit Card Market
On June 17, ACA International – a trade group representing collection agencies and attorneys, creditors, debt buyers, and industry service providers – presented substantive comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in response to the agency’s recent request for information related to the consumer credit card market. The CFPB’s request contained four debt collection questions,
CUNA and ABA Join Chorus of Objections Against CFPB’s Overdraft Information Requests
Piggy-backing on the recent criticisms lodged by the Independent Community Bankers of America, the Credit Union National Association (“CUNA”) and American Banks Association (“ABA”) recently joined the chorus of objections against the CFPB’s burdensome requests to data processors for information regarding bank and credit union overdraft policies. In November 2014, the CFPB ordered Fiserv, FIS
CFPB Argues that Guarantor is Credit Applicant in Supreme Court Amicus Brief
According to a Supreme Court amicus brief filed last month by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, consumers who are required to guarantee their spouses’ credit applications are themselves credit applicants who are protected from discrimination under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B.
The CFPB claims that courts should defer to Regulation B’s “reasonable”
Small Banks Criticize CFPB’s Information Requests to Data Processors on Overdraft Fees
On June 1, 2015, the Independent Community Bankers of America (“ICBA”) heavily criticized the CFPB’s decision to lodge information requests to data processing firms regarding checking account overdraft fees, particularly because of their alleged high costs and unwarranted breadth. The requests are targeted at information on community bank and credit union overdraft plans and seek
CFPB Extends CARD Act Comment Period Regarding Four Areas of Interest
As we discussed in March, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is soliciting public comment on how the credit card market is functioning and the impact of credit card protections on consumers and issuers.
To allow interested persons additional time to consider and submit their responses, the CFPB announced it is extending the comment period on