On July 30, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it reached an agreement with Residential Credit Solutions, Inc., a national mortgage servicing company, whereby the mortgage loan servicer agreed to pay $1.5 million in restitution to borrowers and a $100,000 civil penalty. The CFPB alleged that the Residential Credit Solutions had failed to honor
Auto Finance, Credit/Debt Practices, and Identity Theft Top Consumer Protection Complaints
On July 29, the Consumer Federation of America and the North American Consumer Protection Investigators released their annual survey of consumer complaint data from state and local consumer agencies, which is based on 280,000 claims to thirty-seven agencies from twenty-one states and the District of Columbia.
Just as in 2013, the most common complaints arose
House Bill Rescinding CFPB Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Advances
On July 29, the House Financial Services Committee reported House Bill 1737, the “Reforming CFPB Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Act,” to the House for full consideration. If passed, the bill would rescind the CFPB’s March 2013 fair credit guidance to indirect auto lenders (CFPB Bulletin 2013-02), and require the CFPB, when proposing
D.C. Circuit Allows Constitutional Challenge to CFPB
In a groundbreaking decision on July 24, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Texas bank could pursue its constitutional challenge against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its Director. This decision was notable in allowing a regulated entity to maintain a so-called “pre-enforcement” lawsuit against a federal agency which contested the legality
Congressional Committees’ Approving Financial Services Appropriations Bills Indicates Momentum is Accelerating to Reform the CFPB
On July 23, the full Senate Committee on Appropriations approved 12 appropriations measures, including provisions to increase oversight of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by bringing its funding under the annual Congressional appropriations process and to change the CFPB’s leadership structure to a five-member commission. Our discussion of the Subcommittee’s work leading to this
Debt Collection and Credit Reporting Litigation and Related Complaints to CFPB Continue to Increase; TCPA Lawsuits Decline
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits increased 16 percent from June 2014 to June 2015, according to a report issued by WebRecon. The report also noted that FDCPA lawsuits increased from 885 to 1,129 from May to June this year. According to the report, Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuits also increased 22.7 percent from
CFPB Delays By Two Months the Effective Date of The “Know Before You Owe” Mortgage Disclosure Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule that delays the effective date of the Know Before You Owe mortgage disclosure rule to October 3, 2015. This news follows on the announcement by the CFPB on June 24 of its proposed amendment to the rule, also known as the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule (“TRID”),
Do Statutes Of Limitation Apply To The CFPB After All?
On July 14, a federal judge in Atlanta denied Frederick J. Hanna & Associates’ motion to dismiss in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Frederick J. Hanna & Associates PC, which the CFPB filed against the law firm arising out of alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Consumer Financial Protection Act.
Congress Trying Again To Reform or Eliminate the CFPB
On July 22, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government approved a spending bill for the 2016 fiscal year that would change the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) leadership structure by replacing the CFPB director with a five-member commission.
The bill also would bring funding for the CFPB’s budget under the annual
CFPB Director Cordray Defends Consumer Data Collection Practice
On Wednesday, July 15, CFPB Director Richard Cordray assured the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, as well as the public, that data collected by the CFPB could not be used to personally identify any consumer. A September report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the CFPB collects information on 700,000 car