In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, Chris Willis is joined by colleagues Megan Burns, Jason Manning, and Punit Marwaha to explore the arcane world of reverse mortgages. They provide valuable insights about how these unique financial products work, the regulatory landscape, and the litigation hurdles faced by reverse mortgage servicers. Listen to this episode to hear real-life examples highlighting the complexities reverse mortgage servicers may face when dealing with reverse mortgages, including loan origination requirements, the involvement of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Administration guidelines, alleged third-party fraud, and the sensitivity around elderly borrowers.

As technology advances, so do the tactics of scammers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently released a data spotlight on the top text scams of 2024, revealing a significant increase in financial losses despite a decrease in the number of reports. Specifically, in 2024, reported losses to text scams reached $470 million, more than five times the amount reported in 2020. Due to a lack of reporting, this number reflects only a fraction of the actual losses.

On April 1, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) announced the launch of its new Consumer Mediation Procedures and Fee Schedule. According to the announcement, updates aim to simplify and make dispute resolution more accessible for consumers, particularly those who are self-represented and may be unfamiliar with the mediation process. Prior to the adopting the procedures, the AAA did not have any processes in place for explaining the benefits of mediation or disclosing the fees associated with using a AAA mediator.

On April 9, the White House issued a memorandum directing federal executive departments and agencies to repeal regulations deemed unlawful pursuant to certain U.S. Supreme Court decisions. This directive aims to address regulatory barriers that the Trump administration believes hinder economic growth and innovation. The memorandum implements Executive Order 14219, issued on February 19, 2025, which ordered the heads of all federal agencies to identify unlawful and potentially unlawful regulations within 60 days and begin plans to repeal them. Now, the administration is directing agencies to prioritize that review under 10 watershed Supreme Court cases, and to repeal regulations that are considered unlawful under those cases without public notice and comment, if possible.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) agreed to vacate its controversial credit card late fee rule in a joint motion for entry of consent judgment filed in Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. CFPB yesterday. This significant move comes after the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas found that the rule likely violated the Credit Card Accountability and Disclosure Act (CARD Act). The consent judgment marks a pivotal resolution in the case, with the CFPB acknowledging that the rule failed to allow card issuers to impose penalty fees that are “reasonable and proportional” to violations, as required by the CARD Act.

On April 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an order partially staying the district court’s preliminary injunction in the ongoing legal dispute between the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This decision marks a significant development in the NTEU’s challenge against Acting Director Russell Vought’s actions, which the union claims are unconstitutional and violate the Dodd-Frank Act. The appellate court’s order addresses several key provisions of the district court’s injunction, setting the stage for an expedited appeal process.

Last month, the Texas legislature introduced two companion bills, S.B. No. 2677 and H.B. No. 700, to regulate sales-based commercial financing. For purposes of the proposed legislation, sales-based financing is a transaction that is repaid as a percentage of sales or revenue, or according to a fixed payment mechanism that provides for a reconciliation process to adjust payments to an amount that is a percentage of sales or revenue. These bills propose significant changes to the regulatory landscape for sales-based financing transactions, including the imposition of a usury cap on such transactions and disclosure requirements that only extend to financing of over $500,000. The bills are currently pending before committees.

On April 7, DailyPay, LLC, an employer-integrated earned wage access (EWA) provider, filed a lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James, seeking declaratory relief to prevent the enforcement of state and federal laws that the company argues do not apply to its business model. The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, centers on the classification of DailyPay’s on-demand pay (ODP) product, which allows workers to access their earned wages before the traditional payday.

On April 9, the House of Representatives passed two Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolutions aimed at nullifying certain Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rules finalized in the final days of the Biden-Harris Administration. These resolutions, S.J. Res. 18 and S.J. Res. 28, target rules related to limiting the overdraft fees that may be charged by large financial institutions, and extending supervisory authority over certain providers of digital payments services, respectively. The CRA resolutions are now before President Trump for signature.