Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

On February 12, Representative Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) reintroduced bi-partisan legislation that would require the Senate to confirm an independent inspector general for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, arguing it would provide greater oversight.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection-Inspector General Act of 2015 (H.R. 957) is co-sponsored by Tim Walz (D-Minn.), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), and

On February 12, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it had filed a complaint against one mortgage company, All Financial Services, and had entered consent orders against two others, Flagship Financial Group and American Preferred Lending, based on claims that the companies had deceptively implied that they were affiliated with the United States government.

On February 10, the Department of Justice and the North Carolina Attorney General filed a consent decree to settle claims that a Charlotte-area “buy here pay here” dealer engaged in intentionally discriminatory “reverse redlining” practices.  The regulators alleged that the defendants specifically targeted African-American customers and imposed onerous credit terms upon them without regard to

Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Continental Finance Company LLC, a credit card lender, to refund an estimated $2.7 million to approximately 98,000 consumers.  The CFPB found that the company’s subprime credit cards misrepresented certain fees and hit consumers with illegal charges.  The order also requires the company to pay a civil penalty

On February 3, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau asked a federal district court to enter a consent order that would permanently ban a Texas company, Union Workers Credit Service, from offering any credit products or services after it duped thousands of consumers into signing up for a sham credit card.  The CFPB claims that

On January 28, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a bulletin warning financial institutions about entering into agreements with third parties that share or hide information related to regulatory exams, as well as warning entities under investigation about sharing information with third parties.

The bulletin is intended to assist supervised entities in complying with

Join us at the American Conference Institute’s 22nd National Forum on Consumer Finance Class Actions & Litigation. Two full days of expert strategies for in-house and outside counsel on navigating class actions, litigation, and government enforcement actions in the consumer finance industry.

April 13 – 14, 2015; Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza

New rules on overdraft protections and fees are one of the top items on the CFPB regulatory agenda this year.  In its Fall 2014 Rulemaking Agenda, the CFPB noted that they were “continuing to research overdraft services and considering whether rules governing overdraft and related services are warranted and what such rules may be”

On January 13, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a report on consumers’ mortgage shopping experiences.  The CFPB found that almost half of consumers who take out a mortgage fail to shop prior to application and that consumers seriously consider only a single lender or mortgage broker before choosing where to apply.  The

Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced four appointments to its leadership team.

In addition to naming Anthony Alexis as assistant director of enforcement, the CFPB also announced the hiring of Leandra English as deputy chief operating officer, Agnes Bundy Scanlan as the regional director of supervision examination, and Jeffrey Sumberg as chief