New York has taken a significant step toward reshaping its consumer and market-protection framework with the enactment of the Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable (FAIR) Business Practices Act. The newly signed law amends Article 22-A of the General Business Law, expanding the scope of conduct prohibited under GBL § 349 and clarifying how
Russ Vought’s CFPB has been busier over the past two weeks, but not because of increased enforcement or supervision efforts. Instead, recent actions indicate that the administration intends to keep Vought in the acting director position so he can shutter or even more substantially shrink the CFPB and the laws it enforces. But the CFPB’s
On November 13, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) amending Regulation B – the regulation implementing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The proposed rule addresses three principal areas: (1) it clarifies that ECOA does not authorize disparate-impact liability; (2) it further defines “discouragement” under 12 CFR
Speaking at the Clearing House’s annual conference, Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould assured industry leaders that the agency remains steadfast in defending federal preemption under the National Bank Act. Gould’s comments come in the wake of recent federal appellate court decisions in the Ninth and First circuits, which challenged the OCC’s stance by finding
In the wild new world of TCPA litigation following the end of binding deference to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), one of the more salient questions is whether the Do-Not-Call (DNC) Registry’s protections extend to the sending of text messages. Florida finds itself at ground zero for this debate after three different federal district courts
Two recent developments signal that momentum is building in Washington to recalibrate Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) reporting to produce higher‑value intelligence with less compliance friction. First, on October 9, 2025, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the federal banking regulators issued joint guidance in the form of Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) FAQs clarifying several
Home equity products enable homeowners to unlock the value of their homes through a variety of financing contracts. Each product has distinct features, benefits, and risks. In this post, we compare and contrast common home equity products, including home equity lines of credit (HELOC), closed-end home equity loans (HEL), reverse mortgages, and home equity agreements
In its 2024 decision Cantero v. Bank v. America, N.A., the Supreme Court established the approach courts must follow in determining whether a state consumer financial law prevents or significantly interferes with the exercise of a national bank’s powers and is, therefore, preempted by the National Bank Act. In doing so, the Supreme Court
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a request for information (RFI) on October 2, 2025 titled “Future of the HECM and HMBS Programs and Opportunities for Innovation in Accessing Home Equity.” The title alone underscores the RFI’s importance for all participants in HUD’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program
On September 22, 2025, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Mortgage Forbearance Act into law, with an immediate effective date. The law, designed to provide emergency relief to California mortgage loan borrowers impacted by the various wildfires that occurred earlier in 2025, is in many ways reminiscent of the CARES Act forbearance framework from 2020.