While the Spring 2024 Supervisory Highlights report issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) largely covered loss mitigation deficiencies and fee practices — issues that are regulatory priorities and, therefore, top of mind for mortgage servicers — two potentially under-the-radar findings outlined in the report are actually noteworthy and merit further analysis. First, in
The CFPB released its Supervisory Highlights, Mortgage Servicing Edition on April 24, 2024. These highlights share the CFPB’s findings from supervisory examinations completed between April 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023. Although only a portion of the Supervisory Highlights addresses fees, as discussed below, the CFPB’s Newsroom article is titled “CFPB Takes Action to
Nearly two years ago, in April 2022, the CFPB issued a press release announcing its intent to start exercising its authority to examine non-bank financial services institutions that the CFPB has “reasonable cause to determine pose risks to consumers.” The agency also indicated that it would release to the public the results of such supervision.
On February 16, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced what it heralded as a significant update to its Supervisory Appeals Process. The first of its kind since 2015, this revision introduced a seemingly more inclusive and flexible approach to how financial entities can contest supervisory findings. The appeals process is intended to promote
In an October 2023 advisory opinion, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) put large banks and credit unions on notice that the use of chatbots and other technologies could increase the risk of violating federal law if those services are ineffective. As we have previously written about, the CFPB’s advisory opinion interprets Section
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