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
As discussed here, in April 2023, Colorado introduced HB 1229 that proposed to limit certain charges on consumer loans and simultaneously opt Colorado out of sections 521-523 of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA). Sections 521-523 of DIDMCA empower state banks, insured state and federal savings associations and state credit unions to charge the interest allowed by the state where they are located, regardless of where the borrower is located and regardless of conflicting state law (i.e., “export” their home state’s interest-rate authority). However, section 525 of DIDMCA gives states the authority to opt out of sections 521-523. Indeed, Colorado initially opted out of DIDMCA when it was enacted, but later repealed its opt-out. This week HB 1229 was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis joining Colorado with Iowa and Puerto Rico as the only jurisdictions currently opting out.
New York’s Attorney General Letitia James has proposed landmark legislation entitled the Crypto Regulation, Protection, Transparency, and Oversight Act (CRPTO Act) in an attempt to tighten New York’s regulations on the cryptocurrency industry. The CRPTO Act aims to stop conflicts of interest, require public reporting of financial statements, and bolster investor protections. The Attorney General
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a report analyzing the use of chatbots in consumer finance and the impact on customer service. The report notes that financial institutions are increasingly using chatbots to reduce the costs of human customer service agents, and moving away from simple, rules-based chatbots toward more sophisticated technologies, such
On December 10, 2023, New York General Business Law § 520-e requiring a grace period for the use of credit card rewards points will go into effect. Specifically, the legislation provides that if any credit card rewards program is modified, cancelled, closed, or terminated, the card holder must be provided notice of such change “as
With a roll-out led by Vice President Harris, the federal financial services regulators have released the long-awaited proposed automated valuation model (AVM) rule, referencing both home appraisal bias in mortgage lending and algorithmic bias, but providing no guidance at all about how to address those issues. On June 1, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
On May 18, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed into law the Commerce Omnibus Bill, which, among other things, amends Minnesota Statute §§ 47.60 and 47.601 to cap the annual percentage rates (APR) on consumer small loans and consumer short-term loans at a 50% all-in APR, and expressly provides for predominant economic interest and totality
As recently discussed on our podcast here, section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act) amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to require lenders to collect information about small business credit applications they receive, including geographic and demographic data concerning the principal owners, lending decisions, and the price of credit. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued its proposed rule in 2021, and after considering the over 2,500 comments it received, on March 30, 2023, the CFPB issued the massive, highly technical, and complicated Final Rule. The Final Rule and its accompanying discussion and analysis, as well as the Official Commentary totals 888 pages exclusive of the 123-page Filing Instruction Guide and numerous other documents released by the Bureau. In this first in a multi-post blog series, we will provide a high-level overview of the Final Rule.