On June 17, ACA International – a trade group representing collection agencies and attorneys, creditors, debt buyers, and industry service providers – presented substantive comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in response to the agency’s recent request for information related to the consumer credit card market. The CFPB’s request contained four debt collection questions,
CFPB Files Suit Against Auto Lender that Targeted Servicemembers for UDAAP Violations
On June 17, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit against Security National Automotive Acceptance Company, LLC, an Ohio-based auto-finance company specializing in lending to members of the United States military to purchase used vehicles. Security National operates in approximately 30 states.
The CFPB’s lawsuit alleges that Security National engaged in unfair, deceptive, or
CFPB’s Regulation of the Auto Finance Industry Accelerates
On June 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule defining larger participants of the automobile financing market. The new rule will become effective 60 days after being published in the Federal Register. The final rule follows up the CFPB’s proposed rule, issued on September 17, 2014, on which we previously reported here
FTC Holds Inaugural Debt Collection Dialogue
On June 15, the Federal Trade Commission and the Office of the New York State Attorney General hosted a “Debt Collection Dialogue” in Buffalo, New York. FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Jessica Rich and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman delivered opening remarks, and officials from the New York State Department of Financial
CUNA and ABA Join Chorus of Objections Against CFPB’s Overdraft Information Requests
Piggy-backing on the recent criticisms lodged by the Independent Community Bankers of America, the Credit Union National Association (“CUNA”) and American Banks Association (“ABA”) recently joined the chorus of objections against the CFPB’s burdensome requests to data processors for information regarding bank and credit union overdraft policies. In November 2014, the CFPB ordered Fiserv, FIS
CFPB Argues Processors Facilitated Debt Collection Fraud
On June 5, 2015, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) argued that a lawsuit against four payment processors for their involvement in a debt collection scheme should not be dismissed. According to the CFPB’s complaint (found here), filed on March 26, 2015, this scheme involved Marcus Brown and Mohan Bagga and their
CFPB Argues that Guarantor is Credit Applicant in Supreme Court Amicus Brief
According to a Supreme Court amicus brief filed last month by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, consumers who are required to guarantee their spouses’ credit applications are themselves credit applicants who are protected from discrimination under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B.
The CFPB claims that courts should defer to Regulation B’s “reasonable”
CFPB Releases Results of Study on Reverse Mortgage Advertisements
Authored by D. Kyle Deak
Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released the results of a study on reverse mortgage advertisements. The study was based upon personal interviews conducted in November and December 2014 with 59 homeowners aged 62 or older in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. concerning 97 print, radio, online, and television
Small Banks Criticize CFPB’s Information Requests to Data Processors on Overdraft Fees
On June 1, 2015, the Independent Community Bankers of America (“ICBA”) heavily criticized the CFPB’s decision to lodge information requests to data processing firms regarding checking account overdraft fees, particularly because of their alleged high costs and unwarranted breadth. The requests are targeted at information on community bank and credit union overdraft plans and seek
TransUnion Study Finds Student Loan Debt is Not Inhibiting Younger Consumers’ Access to Credit
Despite the rise in student loan balances over the past decade, a new TransUnion study found that student loan obligations have not inhibited younger consumers’ ability to access and repay other consumer credit categories, such as auto loans and mortgages, when compared to their peers without student loans.
According to TransUnion, this is contrary