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Tony counsels financial services providers on compliance issues, including military lending laws, defends clients facing government investigations, examinations and enforcement actions, and defends individual and class action lawsuits brought by consumers. Clients appreciate Tony’s collaborative, common-sense and cost-effective approach to evaluating and solving problems.

In response to a petition filed last week by a number of consumer advocacy groups, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) announced that it will be seeking public input on a possible rule that would curtail mandatory pre-dispute arbitration provisions.

On June 29, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed SB 1033, An Act Concerning Various Revisions to the Banking Statutes, into law. As discussed here, with this bill, Connecticut joins several other states that have set strict rate caps on consumer loans, including Illinois, New Mexico, Colorado, and California, and those that expressly provide for a predominant economic interest test for true lender purposes. The law will take effect on October 1, 2023.

Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski, holding that a district court must stay its proceedings while an interlocutory appeal on the question of arbitrability is pending. The decision resolves a circuit split on the question of whether such a stay is mandatory or discretionary. Justice Kavanaugh

On June 20, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB or Bureau) Office of Servicemember Affairs published its Annual Report analyzing complaints submitted by servicemembers, veterans, and their families in 2022. The report found that in 2022, servicemembers submitted over 66,400 complaints, representing a 55% increase from 2021, and a 62% increase from 2020. As in prior years, credit reporting remained the top issue for servicemembers, followed by debt collection and credit cards. Nonetheless, much of the report focused on the rising number of complaints from servicemembers related to payment app fraud and recommended steps the industry can take to address this issue.

In Wood v. Omni Financial of Nevada, Inc., the plaintiffs filed a class action complaint alleging violations of the Military Lending Act (MLA). Specifically, the plaintiffs, two active duty service members who had entered into multiple installment loans with the defendant, alleged that the defendant violated the MLA by unlawfully: 1) extending loans with

Today, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a much-awaited opinion affirming the dismissal of a servicemember’s class-action suit brought under the Military Lending Act (MLA or Act) because, even though the secured automobile loan at issue financed guaranteed asset protection (GAP) coverage and other fees, the loan was still given for the “express purpose”

On April 5, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released its Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights report, providing a high-level overview of consumer compliance issues identified by the agency during 2022 in its supervisory activities of state non–member banks and thrifts. The report did note that, “[o]verall, supervised institutions demonstrated effective management of their consumer compliance

In a significant boost to the financial services industry, Utah has taken major steps to streamline its debt collection bureaucracy — including the removal of criminal penalties for failure to comply with technical requirements.

Utah House Bill 20, titled “Collection Agency Amendments,” was signed into law last month and goes into effect May 3

On March 23, SB 1033, An Act Concerning Various Revisions to the Banking Statutes, was given a favorable report by the Legislative Commissioners’ Office and sent to the Connecticut Senate. With this bill, Connecticut hopes to join several other states that have set strict rate caps on consumer loans, including Illinois, New Mexico, Colorado

In an agency order issued on February 27, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) permanently banned RMK Financial Corporation from the mortgage lending industry. In addition to imposing a penalty of $1,000,000, the order prohibits the lender from engaging in any mortgage lending activities or receiving remuneration from mortgage lending.

The CFPB based its decision