Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced a new proposal that will allow consumers the option to share a narrative of “what happened” in the CFPB’s public-facing Consumer Complaint Database.  According to the CFPB, this new feature would “empower consumers to publicly voice their complaints about consumer financial products and services” and “provide important context…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced an interpretive rule to assist heirs who, due to the death of a mortgagor, acquire title to a property and take over the mortgage.  Specifically, the interpretative rule clarifies that heirs may be added to a mortgage without prompting the Ability-to-Repay rule, which took effect in January 2014.…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit on July 14, 2014, in Atlanta federal court against a Georgia-based firm, Frederick J. Hanna & Associates, and its three principal partners for operating an alleged “debt collection lawsuit mill that uses illegal tactics to intimidate consumers into paying debts they may not owe.”  The CFPB claimed…

On June 27, 2014, Magistrate Judge Orlando L. Garcia of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas recommended denial of a plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in an FDCPA action implicating settlement letter language for time-barred debt. The case, Schreve v. First National Collection Bureau, Inc., involved time-barred debt that…

The CFPB is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget to conduct a national telephone survey of 1,000 credit card holders as part of its study on which the CFPB may base its decision to limit or prohibit the use of arbitration clauses in credit card agreements.

The CFPB’s “study” of the use…

On June 9, 2014, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 3211, the Mortgage Choice Act, which amends the Truth in Lending Act and the definition of “qualified mortgage” under the Dodd-Frank Act.  The legislation was introduced by Representatives Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY), and is intended to afford low and moderate income…

On June 10, 2014, CFPB Director Richard Cordray appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in conjunction with the May 2014 release of the Bureau’s fifth Semi-Annual Report.  Cordray highlighted a variety of topics, including mortgages, student loans, complaint numbers, and proposed data collection efforts.

Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) questioned…

Contrary to industry expectations, the CFPB announced on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 that it would be delaying its prepaid card regulations until the end of the summer.  The announcement came during a presentation by CFPB Director Richard Cordray to the Senate Banking Committee. The rule had been expected this month.

This follows a pattern of…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a Request for Information (“RFI”) this week regarding “the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of mobile financial services,” focusing particularly on unbanked and underserved consumers.  The RFI comes amid growing concerns that the proliferation of mobile financial services poses an increased privacy risk to consumers.

The Bureau…

On May 7, 2014, ACA International, the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals, submitted an amicus curiae brief in an important Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) dispute over settlement-letter language for time-barred debts. The plaintiff received a collection letter from the debt collector offering an opportunity to settle a debt after Michigan’s six-year limitations…