In early April, Deputy Director Steven Antonakes of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau delivered the keynote speech at a meeting of the Consumer Bankers Association. During his speech, he specifically targeted the auto finance industry, articulating the CFPB’s concern over dealer mark-up and comparing the practice to mortgage yield spread premiums. Deputy Director Antonakes stated:
In a speech at the Consumer Bankers Association, CFPB Deputy Director Steve Antonakes discussed the nonbank segments of the financial services industry where the CFPB recently has expanded its supervision, including debt collection, student loan servicing, and large nonbank auto lenders.
Antonakes cited the receipt of more than 20,000 consumer complaints in March 2014 as
Earlier today a bipartisan bill was introduced into the US House of Representatives which would require the CFPB to create an advisory panel of small financial services companies similar to other boards the Bureau has created. The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Small Business Advisory Board Act, introduced by Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., and
On March 31, the CFPB released a Small Entity Compliance Guide for its integrated disclosure rule for the Truth in Lending (TILA) and Real Estate Settlement Acts (RESPA). The CFPB issued the final rule in November to integrate the initial and final mortgage loan disclosures under TILA and RESPA. The final rule appeared in the
Troutman Sanders’ lawyer David Anthony will be presenting at the upcoming American Conference Institute’s 18th National Forum on Consumer Finance Class Actions & Litigation. The conference will be held April 8-9, 2014 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel &Suites in Los Angeles, CA. David will be presenting on , “CLASS ACTIONS: New and Emerging
In an annual report issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday, March 31, 2014, the Bureau announced that it had received nearly double the number of consumer complaints in 2013 as compared to 2012. The report noted that 163,700 total complaints were brought to the Bureau’s attention in 2013, a jump from approximately
This month, the Federal Trade Commission charged an Arkansas auto dealer, Abernathy Motor Company, and its two principals, with failing to display a “Buyers Guide” on used vehicles offered for sale, as required by the FTC’s Used Car Rule. Before being charged, the FTC had visited the dealer in December 2012 and identified issues of
In its annual FDCPA report to Congress released on March 20, 2014, the CFPB stated that the industry continues to be plagued by aggressive collection tactics and inaccurate record-keeping. According to the Bureau, since it began receiving consumer complaints about the industry in July, it has received more than 30,000 complaints concerning debt collection practices.
On March 11, 2014, the Seventh Circuit ruled that settlement letters sent to debtors concerning the settlement of time-barred debt were misleading even though the letters did not threaten litigation.
The plaintiffs were both Illinois residents with outstanding debt that was subject to the state’s four-year statutes of limitations, and the collection firms named in
As a part of its plans to modernize regulation of the debt collection industry, the CFPB announced on February 26, 2014, that it will begin the process of soliciting consumer input to “learn about their experiences interacting with the debt collection industry” – specifically their most recent contact with debt collectors and whether they recognized