The FTC recently published a blog post about a warning letter it sent to TAPD, Inc., which does business as Frank Financial Aid, warning the company that advertising and marketing, including on its website, may be misleading consumers about pandemic-related relief in the form of grants available to postsecondary students and a cash advance product offered by the company, in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act.  The letter also warns the company that…

As previously reported, in August 2020 the CFPB released the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Filing Instruction Guide (FIG) for data that must be collected in 2021 and reported in 2022. Recently, the CFPB released an update to the FIG. Edits Q656 and Q657 that were in Table 8: Macro Quality Edits for Loan/Application Register of the prior version of the FIG have been reclassified and moved to Table 7: Quality Edits for…

Last Thursday, on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral argument in Seila Law.   The members of the three judge panel were Judge Susan Graber and Judge Paul Watford from the Ninth Circuit and Judge Jack Zouhary from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.  Judge Graber was appointed by President Clinton, Judge Watford was appointed by President Obama, and Judge Zouhary…

We are joined by Bret Ladine, the DFPI’s General Counsel.  We discuss the DFPI’s plans for adding new staff, promoting innovation through the new Financial Technology Innovation Office, providing guidance on CFPL exemptions, and handling complaints.  Other topics include the DFPI’s approach to its new authority regarding UDAAPs (which covers small business financing), registration of covered persons, and civil penalties. Click here to listen to the podcast.…

The CFPB recently announced that it, along with the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Reserve Board, issued a final rule that will maintain the current exemption threshold to the appraisal requirement for higher priced mortgage loans (HPML). The initial exemption threshold was $25,000, and the threshold is subject to annual adjustment based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. Currently transactions of $27,200 or less are exempt…

The U.S. Department of Housing Urban Development (HUD) announced a proposed rule to permit the use of private flood insurance policies with FHA mortgage loans. As previously reported, in February 2019 federal regulators issued a joint final rule (the “Joint Final Rule”) to implement provisions of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (the “Act”) that require regulated financial institutions to accept private flood insurance policies. The regulators are the Farm Credit Administration,…

Coming on the heels of the Presidential election results, the CFPB circulated an internal e-mail suspending a reorganization that would have stripped the Office of Enforcement’s autonomy to open investigations and issue civil investigative demands. Bloomberg Law reported the suspension after obtaining a copy of the internal e-mail. According to the Bloomberg article, Bryan Schneider, who leads the Bureau’s Division housing its supervision, enforcement, and fair-lending (SEFL) functions, reversed his earlier decision to reorganize the…