In a new blog, David Uejio, the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) stated that he has instructed CFPB staff to “explore options for preserving the status quo with respect to QM and debt collection rules ...
On June 1, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau along with Federal Reserve, OCC, FDIC, NCUA and FHFA (collectively, the “Agencies”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on rules to implement quality control standards for automated valuation models (AVMs) used by residential mortgage originators and secondary market issuers in determining the collateral worth of a mortgage loan that is secured by a consumer’s principal dwelling ...
April 27, 2022 By: Michael Flynn On April 25, the CFPB announced that it is invoking an aspect of its oversight authority to enable it to supervise and examine certain nonbank lenders when it determines the company’s activities and products pose a risk to consumers. The announcement highlights the CFPB’s intent to more closely supervise at least some FinTech companies and other nonbank consumer financial services providers, comparable to its supervision of banks ...
March 31, 2022 By: Michael Flynn In a March 28 speech, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra announced that the CFPB intends to enforce aggressively against large financial institutions that are repeat offenders, and will ask other federal regulators to take a similar approach. This will include utilizing stronger sanctions, even up to banning business practices, forcing divestiture of business lines, and working with state regulatory agencies to obtain license revocations where appropriate ...
March 31, 2022 By: Michael Flynn On March 16, 2022, the CFPB announced it will expand the scope of its enforcement activities regarding discrimination beyond the specific areas covered by ECOA, by applying the UDAAP unfair practices standard to discriminatory practices in all consumers financial segments ...
On April 27, the CFPB published a final rule extending the date for mandatory compliance with the new “general” Qualified Mortgage (QM) rule (General QM Rule) until October 1, 2022. In December, 2020, the CFPB published the final General QM Rule ...
June 12, 2023 By: Michael Flynn On June 8, the CFPB announced that it has ordered a medical debt collector to pay a $1.7 million fine and provide refunds for alleged violations of debt collection rules ...
July 20, 2022 By: Michael Flynn* Amidst its increased activity in many different areas, the CFPB recently focused on credit reporting responsibilities under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by issuing an advisory opinion. The CFPB highlighted and set out some specific key points regarding credit reporting responsibilities and prohibitions, and offered a reminder about criminal liability under various provisions in the FCRA ...
On August, 18, 2020, the CFPB issued a new proposed rule to create a new category of “seasoned qualified mortgages” (Seasoned QMs) that would receive the safe harbor conclusive presumption of meeting the Ability to Repay standard. The proposed rule would allow certain loans that meet specified criteria and are held in portfolio by the lender for three years to qualify as QMs ...
As a part of Federal agencies’ issuance of their semi-annual Spring 2023 Regulatory Agenda, the CFPB has published its Spring 2023 Agency Rule List (“2023 List”). In that List, the CFPB has set forth the status of its present rulemaking activities and its plans for such activities in the next 6 months ...
January 10, 2023 By: Michael Flynn The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget has released the Fall 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Agenda) reports on the actions administrative agencies plan to issue in the near and long term. Included is the CFPB’s regulatory agenda for 2023. The CFPB agenda may be found HERE ...
February 8, 2023 By: Michael Flynn On February 1, the CFPB issued a proposed rule to cut the “safe harbor” amount that banks and credit card companies can charge for late fees. If finalized, the proposed rule would reduce the maximum safe harbor limit for credit card late fees to $8. The current safe harbor limits are $30 for a first missed payment and $41 dollars for each additional missed payment, indexed to inflation. The $8 limit would not be indexed to inflation ...
January 5, 2023 By: Michael Flynn Registration of Regulator Orders and Court Judgments On December 12, 2022, the CFPB issued a proposed rule regarding non-bank consumer finance firms registration of all settlements and enforcement orders ...
October 12, 2022 By: Michael Flynn On September 27, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Request for Information Regarding Mortgage Refinances and Forbearances. The Request indicates that the CFPB is considering making the COVID emergency relief foreclosure/loss mitigation requirements a permanent requirement for mortgage lenders and servicers when dealing with temporarily distressed borrowers ...
September 6, 2022 By: Michael Flynn* Continuing a recent trend, the CFPB has asserted that its oversight authority regarding unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices (UDAAP) to assert that certain digital marketers, including what it refers to as “Big Tech,” face potential UDAAP liability and oversight from the CFPB ...
On October 7, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took steps to clarify its interpretation of how settlement service providers may comply with the “no kickback” and “unearned fee” provisions of Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) by promulgating a new set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). The FAQs provided several concrete examples to shed light on what activities are allowed under those provisions ...
May 26, 2023 By: Stephanie Shea The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018 amended TILA to require the CFPB to issue rulemaking addressing Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans. Specifically, the Act required the CFPB to apply TILA’s ability-to-repay (ATR) requirements to PACE loans and to apply TILA’s civil liability provisions to a PACE lender’s violation of those ATR requirements ...
March 31, 2023 By: Michael Flynn and Brett Voets On March 30, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued the long-awaited final version of its rules on Small Business Lending under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.[1] The new rule imposes significant burdens and risks on lenders, and will likely result in significant amounts of loan-related data being made public, as discussed below ...
December 22, 2021 By: John Epperson Commercial real estate (CRE) professionals are well aware that a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) is required when acquiring commercial property ...
October 23, 2023 By: Leah Lively and Alexandra Shulman This month, dozens of class action lawsuits have been filed in Washington, based on alleged violations of Washington’s Equal Pay and Opportunity Act ...
May 17, 2022 By: Arielle Seidman and Anthony Martin The Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) is set to take effect on July 1, 2023. The law, which applies to, among others, many businesses or non-profits that process data of no fewer than 100,000 persons over the course of a year, allows the attorney general to “promulgate rules for the purpose of carrying out” the CPA ...
Changes are coming in 2021 to the eligibility requirements for “Qualified Mortgage” or “QM” loans. The Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule administered by CFPB (“ATR/QM Rule”) requires a creditor to make a reasonable, good faith determination of a consumer’s ability to repay a residential mortgage loan according to its terms ...
By: Jennifer M. Misetich and Michelle Lopez As with every new year, California employers may face an abundance of new laws that will regulate the workplace in 2024. Governor Newsom has until October 14, 2023 to approve or veto the bills discussed below. Unless otherwise noted, the proposed laws discussed below will go into effect on January 1, 2024. Employers should become familiar with these proposed laws to ensure they are ready for compliance ...
By: Neusha Etemad and Anne Marie Ellis CDA Background Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) was enacted in 1996 to provide websites with immunity from liability arising from posting third-party content. For a service provider to be immune, however, the information at issue must be “provided by another information content provider ...
On New Year’s Day 2021, Congress passed—over President Trump’s veto—a defense appropriations law containing the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AML Act”) and the Corporate Transparency Act, as part of a sweeping new set of anti-money laundering reforms that create important new beneficial ownership disclosure obligations for a wide range of small companies, and contain both good and bad news for financial institutions ...
