The Mississippi Supreme Court recently rejected federal preemption arguments relating to federally owned student loans. This follows other preemption rulings, as we’ve discussed here and here.
Mississippi’s attorney general filed the action on behalf of the state against Navient Corporation, bringing claims under the Mississippi Consumer Protections Act and for unjust enrichment for Navient’s
A bankruptcy judge in the Middle District of Florida recently sustained a Chapter 7 trustee’s objection to a non-Florida resident debtor’s attempted claim of the Florida homestead exemption. Although the debtor had lived in her Florida home for more than 20 years, she was not a United States citizen or a permanent resident with a
In a development that provides some measure of relief to businesses operating in West Virginia, particularly within the financial services industry, Gov. Jim Justice signed into law on March 29, 2021, amendments to the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act (WVCCPA). These amendments appear to provide clarity on certain attorneys’ fees provisions in the
On February 18, 2021, the New York Court of Appeals’ consolidated resolution of four cases that answered two critical questions concerning the application of the statute of limitations in New York mortgage foreclosure actions: What constitutes a valid acceleration such that the six-year “clock” is started and what actions constitute a valid “de-acceleration” of a
Last week, Illinois enacted the “Predatory Loan Prevention Act” (SB 1792), which would place a 36% rate cap on nearly all non-bank consumer loans. This act will essentially outlaw small-dollar loans in Illinois and may make ancillary products on auto loans, such as GAP insurance, unavailable for a large number of consumers. The act
A bill pending before the South Carolina General Assembly, SB 102, would rewrite the procedure most commonly used to collect unpaid property taxes through the sale of real estate and mobile homes. Among other important changes, if enacted, the law would significantly expand the opportunities for mortgagees to receive notice of pending and completed
A proposal pending in the Oregon Legislative Assembly would limit title insurers’ potential grounds for refusing to insure certain real property transactions involving cannabis. Specifically, HB 2806, presented by Reps. David Brock Smith and Gary Leif, would prohibit title insurers and their affiliates from refusing to close or insure real estate transactions solely because
The Florida Supreme Court rang in the New Year by casting a blow to lenders and loan servicers in Florida seeking to avoid the entry of attorneys’ fees judgments in borrowers’ favors where the borrowers successfully argued the plaintiff lacked standing to foreclose. On December 31, 2020, the court issued its opinion in Page v.
Last year, our blog, What Does CA AB 3088 Mean for Mortgage Servicers?, examined some new and notable obligations California imposes on mortgage servicers, including requirements to provide forbearance denial notices. In that blog, we promised the publication of a Part II that further expanded upon CA AB 3088. In this Part II, we
This month, a Florida appellate court held that a merchant cash advance (MCA) purchase and sale agreement was not a “disguised loan” and, therefore, was not subject to Florida’s criminal usury statute. MCA purchase and sale agreements, which offer merchants a fast and efficient way to obtain funding for their operations, are not loans. Rather,