Most of the CFPB’s new mortgage rules take effect today, January 10, 2014. The CFPB has rejected congressional and financial industry’s repeated calls for a one-year mortgage regulation delay. However, Director Cordray expressed that, at least in the early days, the CFPB’s examiners will not be looking for compliance perfection but for a good faith…

On December 23, 2013, a large credit card company was ordered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and other federal agencies to pay $75 million in restitution and penalties based on allegations of a variety of illegal practices, including unfair billing and deceptive marketing of add-on products. The CFPB alleged that the company misled

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a new rule on November 20, 2013, requiring simpler and more streamlined “Know Before You Owe” mortgage disclosure forms. The streamlined forms are designed to facilitate comparison shopping by consumers, to provide a more informed understanding of the fees and monthly payments associated with a potential loan, and…

Few U.S. Supreme Court consumer protection cases over the past year were as closely watched and anxiously anticipated as Mount Holly v. Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc. Scheduled for oral argument on December 4, with a decision anticipated sometime in mid-2014, the housing discrimination case drew attention from cautious onlookers from many…

On November 6, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) directed at the debt collection industry. The CFPB is seeking comments, data and information from the public regarding a variety of rules proposed to govern collection agencies as well as first-party debt collectors, such as banks and…

On the heels of the release of the final amendments to its new mortgage rules, the CFPB issued a bulletin and interim final rule giving mortgage servicers additional guidance about mortgage servicing rules that will take effect in January 2014. The CFPB’s latest guidance addresses, among other things, communications with family members after a borrower…

In conjunction with its recent $389 million joint enforcement action with the CFPB against a national bank (the Bank), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a sweeping, 58-page consent order that may serve as a potential template for future regulation of certain debt-collection practices throughout the debt collection-agency, debt-buying, and first-party…

Both federal and state regulators continue to increase the pressure on payday lenders. New announcements last week demonstrate the ability of regulators to further battle the industry on multiple fronts. Public statements by federal and state regulators alike appear to equate certain legal online lending practices with fraud and other illicit activity.

Late last week,…

Last week, the Florida Supreme Court held in Maronda Homes, Inc. v. Lakeview Reserve Homeowners Assoc., Nos. SC10-2292 & 2336, that the implied warranty of habitability covers various infrastructure defects in residential subdivisions.  The decision is important for home warranty providers, for a number of reasons.

First, many home warranty providers offer workmanship…