According to a recent announcement, Mastercard will begin providing customers with additional details about their purchases, such as the merchant’s name, logo, and location of purchase. Mastercard is inviting merchants to upload their logos to Ethoca, after which the logos will be linked to the corresponding transaction in digital banking applications. The service is intended to reduce transaction confusion that leads to unnecessary complaints and chargebacks that are some of the biggest points…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) signaled Thursday that it may seek to delay implementation of the agency’s recently completed qualified mortgage and debt collection rules. Although the qualified mortgage rule is set to become effective on March 1, 2021 (and the debt collection rule on November 20, 2021), delaying either could lead to a reopening of those rulemakings once President Joe Biden’s permanent appointee is in place.
In a blog post, Acting Director …
On January 21, the CFPB issued a Small Entity Compliance Guide summarizing the October 2020 Debt Collection Rule. The Debt Collection Rule amends Regulation F, 12 CFR Part 1006 and becomes effective on November 30, 2021. The Debt Collection Rule governs the activities of debt collectors under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
The guide does not address the December 2020 final rule addressing and clarifying the consumer disclosure requirement, required actions prior to…
Susan E. Flint, a leading attorney in the consumer finance, regulatory, and class action areas, joined Troutman Pepper’s Consumer Financial Services Practice Group as a partner working remotely from Minneapolis. Most recently, Flint served as senior vice president and assistant general counsel at Wells Fargo in its Litigation, Regulatory Enforcement, and Investigations Division.
While at Wells Fargo, Flint led the bank’s national legal teams, handling consumer bank and small business litigation, enterprise litigation, and…
Bob Ferguson, the attorney general of Washington, has released his 2021 legislative agenda. The requested legislation includes a bill that would self-impose notice requirements to Washington tribes before initiating a project or program that would implicate tribal rights. The legislation “requires that the Attorney General obtain free, prior, and informed consent before initiating programs or projects, under his or independent authority, that affect tribes, tribal rights, and tribal lands.”
In the release announcing the proposed…
Like most industries today, Consumer Finance Services businesses are being significantly impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Troutman Pepper has developed a dedicated COVID-19 Resource Center to guide clients through this unprecedented global health challenge. We regularly update this site with COVID-19 news and developments, recommendations from leading health organizations, and tools that businesses can use free of charge.
Our bank and loan servicing clients also face novel challenges affecting their industry due to COVID-19,…
On January 5, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced the creation of a new Office of Civil Rights, which will expand and replace the existing Division of Human Rights within the office of the attorney general. The new division is a prime example of state regulators’ expanded scrutiny of workplace activities occurring nationwide, particularly in light of recent federal rollbacks, for which all businesses must remain cognizant.
The new office will protect Virginians’…
In Vandenberg & Sons Furniture, Inc. v. Alliance Funding Grp., Judge Quist of the District Court for the Western District of Michigan granted in part and denied in part the plaintiff’s motion for class certification arising from alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). In its ruling, the court highlighted the importance of maintaining written TCPA policies.
In that case, the plaintiff received one fax from the defendant “offering a [$100,000] pre-approved line…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a press release announcing it is holding an Identity Theft Awareness Week between February 1-5, 2021. The week will be comprised of a series of events providing consumers with helpful information to reduce their risk of identity theft and discussing concrete steps consumers can take to recover if identity theft occurs.
Per the FTC’s press release, the event will “highlight what you can do to protect your personal information,…
In Smith v. GC Servs. Ltd. P’ship, No. 19-3494 (7th Cir. Jan. 21, 2021), the Seventh Circuit affirmed a decision by the Southern District of Indiana finding that the plaintiff had not suffered any concrete injury and therefore, lacked standing to assert a claim under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.
The plaintiff, Franny Smith, received a debt collection letter that included the following statement:
If you dispute this balance or the validity of this…