On April 17, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Ponte Investments, LLC – a Rhode Island-based company – and its owner, John C. Ponte, claiming that they misrepresented Ponte Investments as an approved small business lender for the federal coronavirus (“COVID-19”) relief program. The FTC has sought a permanent injunction and other equitable

Like most industries today, consumer finance services businesses are being significantly impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton have developed a dedicated COVID-19 Resource Center to guide clients through this unprecedented global health challenge. We regularly update this site with COVID-19-related news and developments, recommendations from leading health organizations, and tools

The Federal Trade Commission released guidance for increasing privacy and data security while videoconferencing over the internet. The FTC is recommending that video conference users take the following steps:

  1. Make sure that only those individuals who were invited to the meeting are in attendance by securing the meeting by password or providing unique meeting and/or

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) is the largest economic rescue measure in the history of the United States, making $2.2 trillion available to the public and businesses affected by the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic. Where there is money, there will be lawsuits by those who did not get it. A class

In July 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Reserve Board published a final rule on inflation-based adjustments to the dollar amounts under Regulation CC. As a reminder, the increased dollar amounts become effective July 1, 2020.

The Dodd-Frank Act requires adjustments every five years, calculated by the annual percentage increase in the

On April 15, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a joint initiative known as the Borrower Protection Program (Program), through which the CFPB and FHFA will share servicing information during the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) national emergency.

The CFPB currently processes consumer

Last week, in Russo v. POM Recoveries, Inc., the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York denied summary judgment and allowed a suit to proceed against a debt collector for an alleged violation of Section 1692c of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Plaintiff John Paul Russo alleged that POM violated

Earlier this week, millions of Americans began receiving direct deposits from the federal government as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), signed into law last month. Although meant to provide relief to consumers feeling the impact of furloughs and pay cuts as a result of the

On Wednesday, April 15, the Supreme Court of the United States announced its schedule for the cases to be argued by telephone, including Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants. The Court will hear oral argument on Wednesday, May 6, with Barr the second of two cases to be heard on the Court’s

As we reported in March, the COVID-19 pandemic is being leveraged by malicious cyber actors to make various cybersecurity attacks. In a joint alert issued on April 8 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the agencies provided information on exploitation