We review the CFPB’s findings that lenders engaged in deceptive practices and violated Regulation Z advertising requirements based on the following conduct and discuss the findings’ compliance implications: false representations about consumers’ ability to apply for loans online and the absence of credit checks; false threats in collection letters about lien placement, asset seizure, and charging late fees; and advertising “free loans” without including the additional information required when using a “triggering term” or where…

In a split decision, the Eleventh Circuit rejected a $6,000 incentive award for the named plaintiff in a TCPA class action. According to the majority in Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC, U.S. Supreme Court precedent prohibits such awards—a holding that is bound to discourage class actions in the Eleventh Circuit. The decision is the most recent in a series of Eleventh Circuit’s rulings against TCPA plaintiffs. The named plaintiff in Johnson alleged, on behalf…

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law the Student Borrower Bill of Rights, AB 376, as part of a package of consumer protection legislation. He simultaneously signed AB 1864, which creates the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) and the California Consumer Financial Protection Law, and SB 908, which requires licensure of certain persons who are engaged in the business of collecting, on behalf of themselves or others, debts arising…

The CFPB recently announced that it has entered into a consent order with Lobel Financial Corporation, a company that purchases and services retail installment sales contracts (RISC) originated by subprime auto dealers, to settle the Bureau’s claims that Lobel engaged in unfair practices in connection with a product referred to as Loss Damage Waiver (LDW).  The consent order requires Lobel to pay $1,345,224 in consumer redress and a $100,000 civil money penalty, According to the…

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) recently announced plans to establish a program under which money transmitters licensed in multiple states will undergo a single comprehensive exam that seeks to satisfy all state examination requirements, beginning in 2021. Money transmitters, payments firms and cryptocurrency companies licensed in 40 or more states would be covered by the program, to be known as “MSB Networked Supervision”. Currently, there are 78 companies that meet this threshold. The…