Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

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In a significant development in the ongoing litigation over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB or Bureau) Final Rule on credit card late fees, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas denied the CFPB’s motions to dismiss the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, transfer the case to the District of Columbia, and dissolve the preliminary injunction. This ruling follows the court’s earlier request for further briefing on the issue of associational standing, as discussed in our prior blog post, here.

Late last year, we discussed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB or Bureau) proposed rule aimed at supervising larger technology companies offering digital wallets and payment apps. On November 21, the CFPB finalized this rule, which will bring significant changes to the oversight of nonbank digital payment companies. This final rule is set to take effect 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

Yesterday, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and state financial regulators issued a joint statement to provide covered financial institutions with strategies and examples of effective risk management and other practices to identify, prevent, and respond to elder financial exploitation. The agencies emphasized that the joint statement does not establish new supervisory expectations or impose new regulatory requirements.

On December 3, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued a proposed rule for public comment aimed at amending Regulation V, which implements the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The proposed rule seeks to redefine (and, in some cases, rewrite) key terms and provisions within the FCRA, particularly focusing on the activities of purported “data brokers.”

In a shocking development yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a per-curiam, single-sentence order purporting to “clarify” its prior stay of the compliance date for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) payday loan rule. The new order provides that the rule will go into effect on March 30, 2025, 286 days after the Supreme Court entered its judgment in the CFSA lawsuit and not 286 days after the Fifth Circuit’s subsequent decision not to rehear the case en banc. The new order does not even attempt an explanation on how it conforms with the earlier order that the rule would be stayed “until 286 days after resolution of the appeal.”

Earlier this month, we discussed the lawsuit filed by ACA International, LLC and Collection Bureau Services, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) and Director Rohit Chopra. The lawsuit challenges the CFPB’s October 1, 2024 advisory opinion on medical debt collection practices. The plaintiffs are seeking an order vacating the advisory opinion and a stay of the effective date pending the conclusion of the case.

On November 18, the plaintiff trade groups in Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd.(CFSA) v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed an Opposed Motion for Clarification of Stay Pending Appeal asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to clarify that its stay of the compliance date for the CFPB’s payday loan rule extends until the time for filing a new petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court has expired or, if the petition is filed, until the Supreme Court finally disposes of the case. At a minimum, the trade groups ask the Fifth Circuit to clarify that its existing stay expires 286 days after the court’s recent issuance of its mandate (that is, August 25, 2025) and not on March 30, 2025.

On November 14, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) filed a significant consent order against Global Tel Link Corporation (GTL), a company that provides communication and financial services to correctional facilities. The CFPB found that GTL, along with its subsidiaries Telmate, LLC and TouchPay Holdings, LLC, engaged in illegal practices that adversely affected incarcerated individuals and their friends and families.

On November 13, Representative Gary J. Palmer (R-AL) introduced House Joint Resolution 220, which seeks congressional disapproval of an advisory opinion published by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) relating to medical debt collection practices.

On November 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied a request from Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) and the Consumer Services Alliance of Texas to reopen their legal challenge against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) payday loan rule. This decision effectively clears the path for the rule to be implemented.