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Ethan’s practice focuses on financial services litigation and compliance counseling, as well as digital assets and blockchain technology. With a long track record of successful litigation results across the U.S., both bank and non-bank clients rely on him for comprehensive advice throughout their business cycle.

In Badeen v. PAR, Inc., et al., the Michigan Supreme Court expanded the definition of “collection agency” under Michigan’s Occupation Code to include forwarders and forwarding companies.

The plaintiff collection agency brought an action against a number of automobile lenders and forwarding companies alleging that the forwarders were operating as “collection agencies” under

On June 10, 2014, CFPB Director Richard Cordray appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in conjunction with the May 2014 release of the Bureau’s fifth Semi-Annual Report.  Cordray highlighted a variety of topics, including mortgages, student loans, complaint numbers, and proposed data collection efforts.

Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) questioned

Contrary to industry expectations, the CFPB announced on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 that it would be delaying its prepaid card regulations until the end of the summer.  The announcement came during a presentation by CFPB Director Richard Cordray to the Senate Banking Committee. The rule had been expected this month.

This follows a pattern of

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a Request for Information (“RFI”) this week regarding “the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of mobile financial services,” focusing particularly on unbanked and underserved consumers.  The RFI comes amid growing concerns that the proliferation of mobile financial services poses an increased privacy risk to consumers.

The Bureau

CFPB Announces Spring 2014 Rulemaking Agenda, Confirms Development of “Larger Participant” Definition for Auto Finance Market

On May 23, 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau posted its updated semi-annual rule-making agenda, which covers several important categories of upcoming regulatory action.

Defining Larger Participants in Auto Lending Market for Regulation

Through use of its rulemaking

On January 23, 2014, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of four lawsuits against debt collectors that challenged validation notices under 1692g(a)(4).

The disputed provision of the letters involved the 30-day language notifying consumes of their right to dispute the debt, which letters read in relevant part:

“Unless you notify this office

Beginning in June, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will provide the public with access to the meetings of the Consumer Advisory Board (CAB)and the CFPB’s three Councils.  Anyone may attend or watch the full meetings live online the same way most other agencies allow under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

As we previously discussed,

In Bickley v. Dish Network, the Sixth Circuit on May 13, 2014 affirmed the dismissal of a claim for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act for accessing a credit report without a permissible purpose.  Dish Network accessed the plaintiff’s credit report to investigate whether the person attempting to order satellite television service using plaintiff’s

On May 9, 2014, U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright introduced H.R. 4624 to amend the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act to prohibit a court from awarding costs to a prevailing defendant in the absence of a finding that an action was brought in bad faith.

This legislation is in response to the United States Supreme Court’s

The Indiana Court of Appeals addressed an issue of first impression by holding that out-of-state companies must have an Indiana location before they need to obtain a license under Indiana’s Uniform Consumer Credit Code (IUCCC).  Therefore, a collection agency with its principal place of business in another state is only required to obtain a license