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In this episode of Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast, hosts Brooke Conkle and Chris Capurso break down a major FTC–Maryland AG settlement with multiple auto dealerships over alleged deceptive pricing, unauthorized add-ons, and misleading financing practices. Brooke and Chris walk through the redress and penalty structure and explain how “total price,” clear disclosure, and express informed consent are being enforced post-CARS Rule. They also discuss what dealers and auto finance companies should do now to strengthen compliance, documentation, and oversight of dealer practices.

In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, Chris Willis is joined by colleagues Joe DeFazio, Brad Knapp, and Punit Marwaha for a practical introduction to consumer bankruptcy from the creditor’s perspective. The panel walks through the core bankruptcy chapters that consumer financial services companies encounter most often and explains how the automatic stay, co-debtor stay, and discharge injunction operate in real-world servicing and collection environments. They discuss treatment of secured and unsecured debts, reaffirmation agreements, and hot-button issues like the dischargeability of qualified education loans. The conversation also highlights common traps for mortgage servicers, auto lenders, and unsecured creditors, including repossessions, garnishments, foreclosure timing, and plan objections, as well as preference actions and clawbacks.

In this special joint episode of Payments Pros and The Consumer Finance Podcast, guest host Taylor Gess joins Chris Willis and Lori Sommerfield to unpack fair lending risks in point-of-sale finance. They explain how traditional fair lending concepts under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Fair Housing Act play out when merchants interact directly with consumers, highlighting risks around discouraging credit applications, discretionary offers, differential assistance, and steering between prime and subprime products. The conversation explores practical risk mitigation tools, such as standardized sales scripts and consumer disclosures, merchant training, and attorney-directed mystery shopping, along with lessons drawn from unfair or deceptive acts or practices enforcement in point-of-sale settings.

In this joint episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast and Payments Pros, guest host Taylor Gess is joined by Stefanie Jackman to discuss amended debt collection regulations and restrictions for creditors, including tight communication limits and enhanced validation requirements. The conversation dives into the rise of coerced debt statutes, shortcomings of traditional identity theft frameworks, and how creditors should adjust training, intake, and escalation protocols to avoid reputational and legal risk. The discussion also explores state medical debt reporting bans, the preemption challenges, and cautious furnishing in the FCRA landscape.

In this second installment of Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast’s 2025 auto finance year in review, hosts Brooke Conkle and Chris Capurso unpack three emerging risk hotspots: service member auto lending, changes to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) larger-participant supervision, and state vehicle data privacy laws. They break down the CFPB’s 2025 Servicemember Auto Lending Report, proposed shifts to the auto larger-participant threshold, and New Jersey’s first-of-its-kind vehicle data deletion law — along with what each development means for compliance programs, dealer oversight, and litigation risk. Tune in to hear how federal and state trends are reshaping auto finance risk and what companies should be doing now to stay ahead in 2026.

In this special joint episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast and Payments Pros, guest host Taylor Gess joins Chris Willis and Lori Sommerfield to unpack fair lending risks in point-of-sale finance. They explain how traditional fair lending concepts under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Fair Housing Act play out when merchants interact directly with consumers, highlighting risks around discouraging credit applications, discretionary offers, differential assistance, and steering between prime and subprime products. The conversation explores practical risk mitigation tools, such as standardized sales scripts and consumer disclosures, merchant training, and attorney-directed mystery shopping, along with lessons drawn from unfair or deceptive acts or practices enforcement in point-of-sale settings.

In this episode of Payments Pros, host Carlin McCrory teams up with Hiring to Firing hosts Tracey Diamond and Emily Schifter to explore the emerging world of earned wage access (EWA), or on-demand pay, through the lens of the reality TV show Shark Tank. They examine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s evolving approach, rapidly developing (and sometimes conflicting) state laws, and the wage-and-hour and payroll challenges that can arise when employees access their pay early. The discussion also covers how EWA can serve as a powerful recruitment and retention tool, the risk that a well-intentioned benefit can be viewed as a “loan in sheep’s clothing,” and practical steps HR and in-house counsel can take when vetting vendors or considering in-house EWA programs. Tune in to decide whether EWA is the kind of pitch your HR “sharks” should back — or one that should prompt, “And for that reason, I’m out.”

In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, Chris Willis is joined by Mark Furletti, James Stevens, and Taylor Gess to unpack the surge in bank charter applications from fintechs, crypto firms, and even traditional community banking entrepreneurs. The panel explores the appeal of national trust banks and industrial banks, as well as access to Fed payment rails and stablecoin issuance. They walk through the impacts of charter type, location, interest rate “exportation,” and preemption of state usury laws, including the nuanced role of branch-state activities. The conversation also offers a look at life inside the regulatory perimeter — exams, board oversight, and evolving supervisory focus — so nonbanks can realistically assess both the benefits and challenges of pursuing a bank charter in today’s regulatory environment.

In this episode of Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast, hosts Brooke Conkle and Chris Capurso break down two major developments turning up regulatory pressure on the auto finance industry. They unpack the FTC’s “WARNING LETTER” campaign targeting nearly 100 dealers, focused on UDAAP risks in pricing and advertising, including hidden fees, conditional pricing, mandatory add-ons, and unavailable vehicles. They also examine Senator Elizabeth Warren’s sweeping, short-fuse request for granular data comparing servicemember and civilian auto finance outcomes, signaling heightened bipartisan scrutiny of military borrowers. Tune in to hear what these letters really mean, what regulators are looking for, and how auto finance companies and dealers should be preparing now.

In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, Chris Willis is joined by Troutman Pepper Locke Partners Chad Fuller and Virginia Flynn for a practical, forward-looking discussion of the TCPA landscape as part of the CFS Year in Review and Look Ahead series. They explain how courts’ reduced reliance on agency interpretations is creating both opportunity and uncertainty, why plaintiffs’ attorneys are shifting hard toward do-not-call (DNC) and prerecorded-message theories, and how ongoing battles over consent, revocation, and text-message exposure are changing class action risk. The conversation closes with guidance for in-house counsel on tightening DNC compliance, managing vendors, and structuring consent and opt-out processes.