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Stefanie takes a holistic approach to working with clients both through compliance counseling and assessment relating to consumer products and services, as well as serving as a zealous advocate in government inquiries, investigations, and consumer litigation.

As promised (and discussed here), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its final rule under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Final Rule). Section 1071 amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to impose significant data collection requirements on small business creditors. According to the press release announcing the Final Rule’s issuance, “[l]enders will collect and report information about the small business credit applications they receive, including geographic and demographic data, lending decisions, and the price of credit.”

A federal district court in the Western District of New York recently denied in part a motion for summary judgment in a case alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) based on collection calls and prerecorded voice messages. Specifically, the court found the defendant had not provided sufficient evidence that the plaintiff provided

As discussed here, on February 1, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a rule 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

The U.S. House of Representatives has introduced a bill, H.R. 1773, that seeks to amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The proposed amendment would include a two-year bar on the collection of medical debts from the date first payment on the debt is due.

The bill was introduced by Michigan Representative Rashida

As discussed here, in August 2020, a district court for the Middle District of Tennessee held that a medical provider’s third-party billing servicer did not qualify as a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) because the debt was not in default when it was placed with the extended billing office

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions announced a settlement in excess of $250,000 with Integrity Acceptance Corp., affiliated companies, and their owners to resolve allegations that they originated personal loans without the required license, contracted for charges in excess of the maximum allowable rate, misrepresented finance charges, and failed to disclose prepaid finance charges in violation of the Indiana Uniform Consumer Credit Code and Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. As part of the settlement, the entities will forgive $223,685 in loans, pay $33,991 in restitution, and pay $33,000 in civil penalties and costs to the state. The entities and their owners are also enjoined from engaging in similar conduct in the future. 

Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a unanimous opinion declining to follow the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) finding no “support for the Fifth Circuit’s conclusion” that the CFPB’s funding structure is unconstitutional in Supreme

An Illinois federal district court recently denied a creditor-defendant’s motion for summary judgment in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) case brought by a consumer who questioned why his debt was being reported twice — as both a tradeline with the original creditor and as a tradeline with a third-party collection agency. The court’s opinion

On March 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a compliance bulletin entitled Unfair Billing and Collection Practices After Bankruptcy Discharges of Certain Student Loan Debts. The compliance bulletin focused on the treatment of certain private student loans following a bankruptcy discharge. It’s also another example of the CFPB’s efforts to expand bankruptcy

On March 8, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a special edition of its Supervisory Highlights report, focusing once again on fees assessed in relation to bank account deposits, auto loan servicing, mortgage loan servicing, payday lending, and student loan servicing. As the Supervisory Highlights reveal, the CFPB continues to scrutinize and challenge fees