The landscape remains murky as to whether and how Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to websites. As the financial services industry moves increasingly and inexorably from a “bricks and mortar” presence to a virtual environment, these issues are likely to only become more prominent. With differing authority from courts across the U.S. and minimal guidance from the Department of Justice and financial services regulators, financial services companies, particularly fintechs, must…

We previously provided you with some of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy’s recommendations to improve the consumer bankruptcy system. As the commission noted, changes in bankruptcy law occur slowly. The last major amendments to the Bankruptcy Code were in 2005, and the last major amendments to the Bankruptcy Rules were in 2011. Despite the post-recession changes in the rules and local practice regarding mortgage servicing for borrowers in bankruptcy, gaps still exist,…

Chicagoans have found a new avenue through which to regain possession of their vehicle after it has been impounded by the City:  file a chapter 13 bankruptcy case. In 2018, 17,603 new chapter 13 bankruptcy cases were filed in the Northern District of Illinois. By comparison, in 2018, the Middle District of Florida, one of the busiest bankruptcy courts, saw 6,650 new chapter 13 cases filed, and the Southern District of California, another large bankruptcy…

The American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy  released its Final Report and recommendations on April 12, 2019. The commission was created in 2016 to research and develop recommendations to improve the consumer bankruptcy system. During its review, the commission focused on new trends regarding how Americans are incurring debt. At the conclusion of its review, the commission created a Final Report which includes recommendations for amendments to the Bankruptcy Code and Rules to make…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new Prepaid Rule went into effect on April 1, 2019. At a high level, the Prepaid Rule amends portions of the Truth in Lending Act and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act by extending a number of credit card-like protections to “prepaid accounts”: pre-acquisition and initial disclosures, change in terms notices, periodic statements, error resolution procedures, and regulating overdraft credit features. While each of these areas warrant close scrutiny to…

Part IV: Modifications Post-Discharge Welcome to Part IV of our series on servicing discharged mortgage debt. This part will discuss modifying a borrower’s loan post-discharge. (If you missed Part I, Part II or Part III, go ahead and catch up.) Part III discussed the legal ambiguity surrounding loan modifications when the borrower discharges personal liability in bankruptcy. However, as a practical matter, regulators, investors, and many bankruptcy courts expect lenders and servicers to evaluate…