On March 2, Florida State Representative Doug Bankston introduced HB1353, the Florida Commercial Financing Disclosure Law, that would mandate covered commercial financing companies provide consumer-like disclosures for certain commercial financing transactions. The law would also define and prohibit specific acts by brokers of those transactions, including the collection of advance fees. New York, California, Utah
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it is launching an inquiry into the small business credit reporting industry. Specifically, it is ordering five firms to provide detailed information about their products and processes.
According to the FTC, the impetus for this inquiry is that unlike consumer reports, which are governed by the Fair Credit
On March 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a compliance bulletin entitled Unfair Billing and Collection Practices After Bankruptcy Discharges of Certain Student Loan Debts. The compliance bulletin focused on the treatment of certain private student loans following a bankruptcy discharge. It’s also another example of the CFPB’s efforts to expand bankruptcy
On March 15, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Request for Information (Request) seeking public comment on the business practices of data brokers and how they impact the daily lives of consumers. Specifically, the CFPB is interested in hearing details about the types of data that data brokers collect and sell, as well
On March 9, the U.S. House Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee held a hearing entitled “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [CFPB]: Ripe for Reform.” The memorandum released in advance stated the hearing would “examine the leadership structure, funding, budget, and operations of the CFPB and areas in which reforms are needed.” Predictably, during the hearings
On February 22, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed an enforcement action against digital asset exchange, CoinEx, for failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and for falsely representing itself as a crypto exchange without appropriate registration in violation of New York law. In the petition, filed in the New York
On March 8, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a special edition of its Supervisory Highlights report, focusing once again on fees assessed in relation to bank account deposits, auto loan servicing, mortgage loan servicing, payday lending, and student loan servicing. As the Supervisory Highlights reveal, the CFPB continues to scrutinize and challenge fees
Last year, Missouri State Senator Justin Brown (R) introduced a bill that would have imposed certain mandatory disclosure requirements for commercial financing transactions. Ultimately, the bill failed to advance. On December 1, 2022, Senator Brown reintroduced a similar bill, known as SB 187, which also requires registration of a commercial financing broker. The bill
On February 27, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed into law House Bill 284, which requires debt buyers be licensed as “collection agencies” starting July 1, 2023.
The bill was introduced at the request of the Receivables Management Association International (RMAI) to address an emerging debate as to whether debt buyers should have been licensed
As reported here, on September 9, 2022, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (CA DFPI) published a notice of rulemaking action, proposing amendments to the Student Loan Servicing Act.
The proposed rules clarify that all education financing products, including income share agreements (ISAs) and installment contracts, are student loans, and servicers of