According to an NPR report published last week, a group of lawmakers consisting of three Democratic Senators, one Democratic House member, and one Republican House member is expected to introduce House and Senate versions of the “Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act,” a bill that would effectively establish a 36% rate cap for consumer loans.  The bill, which has not yet been released, reportedly would extend the Military Lending Act’s 36% rate cap for consumer…

Many readers of our blog, Consumer Finance Monitor, have also been receiving emailed legal alerts from Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Financial Services Group about private litigation developments and decisions involving issues relevant to consumer finance.  In an effort to keep our clients even better informed, we have expanded Consumer Finance Monitor’s coverage beginning this week to include those developments and decisions. This expansion means we will no longer be sending emailed legal alerts on a regular…

On October 29, 2019, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing to explore the issue of lending and housing discrimination against members of the LGBTQ+ community. A recording of the hearing is available here. Six witnesses offered testimony and responded to questions posed by subcommittee members: Harper Jean Tobin, Director of Policy, National Center for Transgender Equality Michael Adams, Chief Executive Officer, SAGE Dr. Kerith Conron, Research Director, Williams…

The Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA), the world’s largest trade association whose members include consumer reporting agencies operating in the United States and throughout the world, has filed a lawsuit against the New Jersey Attorney General seeking an injunction to block enforcement of revisions to New Jersey law that require nationwide consumer reporting agencies (NCRAs) to make credit reports available to consumers in multiple languages other than English. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires…

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Seila Law case to decide if the CFPB’s structure violates the U.S. Constitution because the President cannot remove the Director at will.  In this podcast, Professor Kent Barnett, University of Georgia School of Law, joins us for a discussion of the current appellate opinions on this issue, the key SCOTUS opinions on the President’s removal authority, the arguments for and against the CFPB’s constitutionality, and the…

HomeStreet Bank recently agreed to the issuance of an order to settle an allegation by the FDIC that the bank’s discontinued Home Loan Center-based mortgage business line violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) “by entering into co-marketing agreements using online platforms and desk rental agreements that resulted in the payment of fees to real estate brokers and home builders for their referrals of mortgage loan business.” The order reflects that all of the…

In CFPB and People of the State of New York v. RD Legal, the CFPB and NYAG appealed to the Second Circuit from the district court’s decision holding the CFPB’s structure is unconstitutional and striking all of Title 10 of Dodd-Frank.  Yesterday, the Second Circuit entered an order adjourning the oral argument that was set for November 21, 2019.  The order states that oral argument will be rescheduled at a later date. The CFPB, which…