In courts across the country, servicers are facing off against states and borrowers over the extent to which federal laws preempt state regulation of federal student loan servicers. Numerous states have stepped up their enforcement activity against student loan servicers and begun enacting new laws aimed at regulating student loan servicing, partially in response to what the states view as a slowdown in federal oversight. Some servicers of federal student loans, pushing back against the…

On March 16, 2018, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its long-awaited Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) opinion in ACA International v. Federal Communications Commission, a consolidated appeal of the FCC’s July 10, 2015, TCPA Declaratory Ruling and Order. While the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FCC’s approach to revocation of consent for autodialed calls and exemption for time-sensitive healthcare calls, the opinion sets aside the FCC’s interpretation of the type…

In one of his first official actions, newly elected President Donald Trump tapped Ajit Pai as the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), replacing outgoing chairman Tom Wheeler. Pai is a sharp critic of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) as it is currently being applied, meaning the FCC’s regulatory approach to the TCPA is likely to shift under his leadership. Pai was initially nominated by President Barack Obama for a Republican Party…

A Wisconsin federal court recently held that forged USDA loan guarantees did not trigger coverage under a bankers blanket bond held by Wisconsin-based Citizens Bank, resulting in a $15 million loss to the bank. Atlantic Specialty Insurance Co. issued the bankers blanket bond to provide coverage for losses stemming from certified securities or corporate, partnership or personal guarantees that were fraudulent, but the court determined that the bond did not cover counterfeit government-backed guarantees. In…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently released its fifth annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) Annual Report, detailing the CFPB and FTC’s activities throughout 2015 related to debt collection practices. The report covers: The current status of the debt collection market The CFPB’s handling of consumer complaints The CFPB’s supervision of debt collection activities Active enforcement actions from 2015 The CFPB’s education activities The CFPB’s rule making activities In addition to summarizing the…

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently handed Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) another victory against challenges to MERS’ authority to assign a mortgage. In Ferguson v. Bank of New York Mellon, the Fifth Circuit ultimately held that MERS was a proper beneficiary of the subject deed of trust and, therefore, had the right to assign the deed of trust. MERS’ authority to assign mortgages has been upheld by courts across the country, despite…