Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

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I.   Background

On February 3, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a bulletin warning companies that furnish information on consumers to consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) yet again of the need to have adequate policies and procedures. This bulletin makes clear that any company that supplies information to CRAs is in an area of…

On February 3, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it is taking steps to help consumers get better access to checking accounts.  The CFPB has “concerns that consumers are being sidelined by the lack of account options and by inaccurate information used to screen potential customers.”  Towards that end, the CFPB sent …

The CFPB released a resource intended to help lenders understand and implement the TILA-RESPA integrated disclosures (“TRID”) when extending construction loans.    

The CFPB’s factsheet provides that construction loans are subject to TRID requirements as long as they are closed-end consumer credit transactions secured by real property.  The only exception is those construction loans that are …

On January 28, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its monthly consumer complaint report, highlighting consumer complaints about financial services such as debt settlement, check cashing, money orders, and credit repair.  The CFPB began accepting complaints as soon as it opened its doors in July 2011.   As of January 1, 2016, the CFPB …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently issued a “Request for Information Regarding Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Resubmission Guidelines.”  The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act was enacted in 1975 and requires covered depository and nondepository institutions to collect and publicly disclose information about applications for, originations of, and purchases of home purchase loans, home improvement …

When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau refused to allow an attorney to attend an investigational hearing held in connection with several Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs) issued by the CFPB, the subjects of the investigation filed suit against the CFPB, along with a motion to seal the case.  Although the subjects voluntarily dismissed their complaint, the …

“It would be hard to find a Federal agency where the gap between regulatory power and public accountability is greater,” stated Wayne Abernathy, Executive Vice President for Financial Institutions Policy and Regulatory Affairs at the American Bankers Association, during his testimony about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight…

On December 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a consent order with EZCORP, Inc., ordering the small-dollar lender and its wholly-owned subsidiaries to refund $7.5 million to 93,000 consumers and pay $3 million in penalties for illegal debt collection practices. 

EZCORP, a financial services company headquartered in Austin, Texas, provides high-cost, short-term, unsecured loans, …

The Supreme Court’s latest arbitration decision is but the latest in a long line of decisions enforcing the strong federal policy enforcing arbitration clauses in consumer contracts. In DirecTV v. Imburgia, a 6-3 decision, Justice Breyer held that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts state laws, in this instance California’s, that invalidate arbitration clauses if…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken action against CarHop, one of the country’s biggest “buy-here, pay-here” auto dealers, and its affiliated financing company, Universal Acceptance Corporation, for providing “damaging, inaccurate consumer information to credit reporting companies.”  The CFPB found that CarHop and Universal Acceptance Corporation violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Consumer…