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Kelley Hails focuses her practice on helping banks and other financial institutions with regulatory compliance matters. As part of her regulatory compliance practice, Kelley assists clients in the financial services and mortgage industries as they navigate, implement, and manage compliance with various originating and servicing obligations imposed on them by federal and state regulators, including the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure requirements, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP), and other CFPB and state consumer protection requirements. She regularly advises clients on the application of such laws in connection with day-to-day operations, maintenance or development of policies and procedures, product advertising and development, mock regulatory examination reviews, risk assessments, regulatory examinations, and error correction. Kelley also has experience in a variety of commercial lending transactions.

Kelley is fluent in Spanish and assists clients with matters involving Spanish-language needs.

CFPB Action Against Student Loan Originator Sends Message to Income Share Agreement IndustryOn September 7, 2021, the CFPB issued a consent order against Better Future Forward, Inc., and related entities (collectively, BFF), companies that provide financing for postsecondary education to students via income share agreements (ISAs). In this enforcement action, the CFPB found that BFF falsely represented that ISAs do not create debt and are not loans

Joint Statement Issued by Federal Banking Regulators to Encourage (Yes, Encourage) Responsible Small-Dollar Lending in Response to COVID-19Following previous guidance issued by (and in some cases withdrawn by) the OCC, CFPB, Federal Reserve, FDIC, and NCUA, the federal financial institution regulatory agencies published a joint statement on March 26, 2020, in response to COVID-19 “to specifically encourage financial institutions to offer responsible small-dollar loans to both consumers and small businesses.” The statement

Stay of Litigation and Compliance Date Continued in Payday Lending Rule LawsuitFollowing the status report filed last week by the parties involved in the lawsuit challenging the CFPB’s Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans Rule, the Texas district court faced with the case ordered that the stay of litigation and the stay of the compliance date for the rule’s payment provisions are continued. The

CFPB Finalizes Amendments to TRID RuleThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released final amendments to its “Know Before You Owe” mortgage disclosure rule, which is also known as the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule (TRID), on July 7, 2017. As stated in the accompanying press release issued by the CFPB, the amendments “are intended to formalize guidance in the rule, and