On Monday, October 20, 2014, Rhode Island Attorney General and NAAG Consumer Protection Committee Chair Peter Kilmartin and North Dakota Attorney General and NAAG Consumer Protection Committee Vice Chair Wayne Stenehjem extend a public invitation to attend the 2014 Fall Consumer Protection Seminar in Providence, Rhode Island. Several members of our Troutman Sanders’ State Attorneys
CFPB Conducts Field Hearing on Indirect Auto Lending
As we previously discussed here, on September 18 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau conducted a field hearing in Indianapolis. Aside from opening remarks from CFPB Director Richard Cordray himself, the hearing also consisted of a panel discussion of industry participants (including representatives from the NADA, the Consumer Bankers’ Association, and the American Financial Services
Whitepaper Issued by CFPB in Defense of its Use of “Proxy” Statistical Methods to Prove Unlawful Credit Discrimination
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, under fire from both industry and Congressional constituencies for using unexplained statistical methodologies to reach conclusions that auto lenders have engaged in unlawful credit discrimination, issued a report on September 17 that provided details of its methodologies and argued for their validity.
The CFPB and other federal regulators have generally
Special CFPB Supervisory Report Reflects Continuing Agenda to Reform Indirect Auto Lending Industry
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, through its announcement on September 17 of the “larger participant” rule for auto lenders, has made clear that it intends to tighten its regulatory grip on the auto lending industry in the United States. In a separate special “Supervisory Highlights” report, also issued on September 17,
CFPB Proposes Regulations Defining Larger Participants in Auto Finance Market
On September 17, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued proposed regulations that amend the CFPB’s existing regulations defining “larger participants” of consumer financial products it supervises by adding a new section to define larger participants of a market for automobile financing. The CFPB explains that the approximately 38 nonbank larger participants that would be captured
Cordray to Speak at CFPB’s Auto Finance Field Hearing on September 18
The CFPB recently announced via blog post that it will hold a “field hearing” on auto finance in Indianapolis on September 18 at 11:00AM. The announcement indicates that additional details will follow, but that the hearing will include remarks from CFPB Director Richard Cordray, and that consumer groups, industry representatives, and the public are invited
Connecticut Attorney General Discusses His Leadership Role in Privacy Policy
The International Association of Privacy Professionals recently conducted an interview with Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen. General Jespen has been considered a leader among the State Attorneys General in the area of privacy, and Connecticut is considered one of the most active states in privacy policy and legal enforcement actions related to privacy issues. In
Attorneys General Request Opinion from FCC on Call-Blocking Technology
On September 9, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) sent Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler a request signed by 39 state attorneys general for an opinion on telecommunication companies’ legal ability to implement call-blocking technology.
The letter brought to the attention of the FCC recent advancements in call-blocking technology such as Call Control,
Plaintiffs Alleging TCPA and FDCPA Claims May Be Able to Circumvent Arbitration Where Calls Were Intended for an Unrelated Third Party
In Porter v. Dollar Financial Group, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122865, a Northern District of California court denied the defendant’s motion to compel arbitration based on the plaintiff’s allegation that the debt collection calls at issue were intended for a third party, and thus were not related to the contract containing the arbitration
CFPB Issues Bulletin to Credit Card Issuers on Deceptive Interest-Rate Promotions
On September 3, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a new bulletin warning credit card issuers against certain interest-rate promotions that, it claimed, posed a risk of deceptive or abusive conduct. The transactions at issue involve solicitations that “offer a promotional annual percentage rate on a particular transaction over a defined period of time” and