On Thursday, November 21, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a final rule that will soon provide it with supervisory authority over large companies in the general-use digital consumer payment applications market. This rule will become effective 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register and will subject large participants in
As more Americans install photovoltaic power generation and storage systems on their homes, journalists have reported incidents of alleged fraud and other forms of misconduct by solar system installers, finance companies, and other related parties. The media attention has correlated directly with an increase in press releases, investigations, and even lawsuits by attorneys general and
In October 2023, the CFPB issued an advisory opinion titled, “Consumer Information Requests to Large Banks and Credit Unions.” The upshot of the advisory opinion is that covered financial institutions responding to consumer information requests under Section 1034(c) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) face significant limitations on the fees they can charge to
On October 12, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a joint statement emphasizing the risk associated with considering an applicant’s immigration status when making credit decisions. Specifically, the CFPB and DOJ emphasized that creditors should carefully consider how they use immigration status when accepting and evaluating applications and should
On September 19, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued Circular 2023-03, which provides guidance as to how lenders must explain denials of applications of credit when the underwriting is based on artificial intelligence (AI) or complex credit models. The upshot of the guidance is that a lender that denies an application for credit
Over the last year and a half, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has become increasingly interested in the origination, servicing, and collection of medical debt. The CFPB alone has published several pieces of industry guidance, 13 press releases concerning medical debt, and 12 reports concerning aspects of medical debt. Moreover, the CFPB is not
On July 7, the CFPB, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), and Department of the Treasury issued a formal request for information regarding forms of consumer-facing healthcare financing. The inquiry specifically solicits comments “from the public and interested parties on medical credit cards, loans, and other financial
Now that the pandemic’s “social distancing” is lessening, we hope you are all able to gather with friends and family this Thanksgiving. As we do the same, we wanted to count our blessings as we review the year. This year, we are thankful for being able to return to our offices, our favorite restaurants, and
On October 29, 2021 — just 32 days prior to the November 30, 2021 effective date — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released new guidance regarding the debt validation notice requirements that are part of the upcoming debt collection rules. Specifically, the CFPB provided (1) new Frequently Asked Questions related to the special rule
On April 21, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a decision that threatens significant consequences for a variety of loan servicing and debt collection industries. The upshot of the court’s holding is that anyone falling within the FDCPA’s broad definition of “debt collector” violates the FDCPA when it communicates with