On September 25, California Assembly Bill 539 was presented to the Governor for signing. The Bill would prohibit licensees of the California Financing Law (CFL) from charging an interest rate greater than 36% plus the applicable Federal Funds Rate on consumer loans of at least $2,500, but less than $10,000. Currently the CFL does not regulate the interest rate a licensee may charge on consumer loans of $2,500 or greater. The Bill’s author states in…

Rhode Island has amended its electronic money transfer law to require state licensing for certain entities providing cryptocurrency or “virtual currency”-related services. Specifically, entities that maintain “control of virtual currency or transactions in virtual currency on behalf of others” will need to become “currency transmission” licensees. An entity controls virtual currency if it has “the power to execute unilaterally or prevent indefinitely a virtual currency transaction.” Without regard to physical location, a virtual currency provider…

On July 25, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPR”) asking for the mortgage industry’s opinion on the scheduled expiration of a provision in its Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule (“Rule”), commonly known as the “QM patch.” The QM patch allows certain mortgage loans that are eligible for purchase or guarantee by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (“GSEs”) to qualify as a Qualified Mortgage (“QM”) loan under the Rule.…

On May 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a settlement with BSI Financial Services, a Texas-based mortgage servicer. Acting as a reminder to mortgage servicers of the importance of maintaining rigorous information management systems, the CFPB alleged BSI violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and the Truth in Lending Act in part because of allegedly inadequate information management procedures. Specifically, the CFPB alleged BSI failed to:…

On April 29, New Jersey’s governor signed into law bill A4997, known as the Mortgage Servicers Licensing Act. As the title indicates, the Act creates a licensing regime for servicers of residential mortgage loans secured by real property within New Jersey. As with many state licensing regimes, the Act exempts most banks and credit unions from licensing. It also excludes from licensing certain entities regulated under the New Jersey Residential Mortgage Lending Act. Consequently,…