Goodwin’s Consumer Finance Insights (CFI) monitors, reports, and analyzes the latest legal news, activity, and developments impacting the consumer finance industry. Consumer financial services companies—whether banks, fintechs, nonbank and alternative lenders, payment providers, or industry vendors or service providers, like digital advertisers and lead generators—face a constantly shifting and maturing regulatory and legal landscape. Growing from the Financial Crisis, today more than any time in history the consumer finance industry must confront a robust and growing body of industry legislation and regulation, all while under the microscope of sophisticated enforcers, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and state regulators and attorneys general. It is critical for in-house and outside corporate counsel, compliance departments, and business executives to stay informed and aware of these developments to navigate institutional, reputational, and legal risks. Goodwin’s CFI is a singular source of the most recent industry news and latest enforcement activity for you to leverage. Here, you will find links to original enforcement documents, enforcement activity statistics, and reports, analysis, and commentary from Goodwin’s leading Consumer Financial Services Litigation and Enforcement practitioners.

Northern District of Illinois Decertifies TCPA Class Action

On February 13, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois decertified a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) text-message class in light of new evidence of consent obtained during the class-member identification process.  Johnson v. Yahoo! Inc., No. 1:14-cv-02028 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 13, 2018), is instructive for TCPA defendants…

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Goodwin Releases Annual Review of Key Developments Within the Consumer Financial Services Industry

Goodwin announces the release of its third annual Consumer Finance Year in Review, an in-depth report that analyzes the principal litigation, enforcement actions and regulations that have impacted the consumer finance industry over the prior year. This report synthesizes Goodwin’s consumer finance coverage from 2017 and offers predictions and insights…

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Goodwin Releases Annual Review of Key Developments Within the Consumer Financial Services Industry

Goodwin announces the release of its third annual Consumer Finance Year in Review, an in-depth report that analyzes the principal litigation, enforcement actions and regulations that have impacted the consumer finance industry over the prior year. This report synthesizes Goodwin’s consumer finance coverage from 2017 and offers predictions and insights…

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FTC Accuses Student Loan Debt Relief Operation of Deceiving Consumers

Piggy Bank with a Graduation Cap

​On February 7, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced an enforcement action against a student loan debt relief operation, claiming it deceived consumers out of $28 million by falsely promising that their monthly payments would go towards their student loans. In the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern…

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Virginia Attorney General Announces Settlement with Online Lender, Resulting in $2.7 Million in Relief to Virginia Consumers

​On February 7, 2018, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring (Virginia AG) announced a settlement with a Virginia based online lender for alleged violations of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The lender allegedly offered closed-end, installment loans online and falsely claimed it was licensed in Virginia to do so.  According to the…

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Changes to the CFPB’s Approach to the Payday Lending Industry

The Trump Administration-appointed Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), Mick Mulvaney, recently stated in a memo to his staff that under his leadership, the CFPB would significantly change in its approach to regulation and enforcement.  The most concrete example of this thus far is his approach to the payday lending…

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D.C. Circuit Issues Long-awaited Decision in PHH Corp. v. CFPB, Reinstating the Panel's RESPA Holdings

On January 31, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (D.C. Circuit), sitting en banc, issued its long-awaited decision in PHH Corp. v. CFPB, holding that the provision of the Dodd-Frank Act shielding the single director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from removal without cause…

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CFPB Solicits Comments on CID Process

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has solicited comments to assist it to revise its current Civil Investigative Demand (CID) process.  The “Request for Information Regarding Bureau Civil Investigative Demands and Associated Processes” was published in the Federal Register on January 26, 2018. The CFPB’s power to issue CIDs is derived from…

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DOJ Investigates FHA Loans Issued by Florida-Based Mortgage Subsidiary

On January 25, 2018, a Florida-based homebuilder filed its Form 10-K annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), disclosing that its “mortgage subsidiary has been subpoenaed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the adequacy of certain underwriting and quality control processes related to Federal Housing Administration (FHA)…

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Court Awards $10 Million Penalty Against Payday Lender, Rejecting CFPB’s Request for $280 Million in Restitution and Penalties

In August 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted partial summary judgment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in a federal lawsuit against a California-based online payday lender, its individual owner, its subsidiary, and a servicer of its loans (“Defendants”), where the CFPB alleged that…

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Federal Reserve Assesses a Combined $35.1 Million in Civil Money Penalties Against 5 Mortgage Servicers Over Mortgage Servicing Practices

On January 12, 2018, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) announced the assessment of civil money penalties and consent orders against five national banking organizations over mortgage servicing deficiencies, resulting in a total monetary settlem​ent of $35.1 million. In 2011 and 2012, the FRB initiated enforcement actions against ten firms, including the five against…

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Second Circuit Affirms TCPA Dismissal, Finding Broadly-Worded Consent Provided on Intake Form Sufficient to Show Prior Express Consent

On January 3, 2018, the Second Circuit decided Latner v. Mount Sinai Health Sys., Inc., 879 F.3d 52 (2d Cir. 2018), affirming the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York’s decision to dismiss the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) suit, and finding that the plaintiff consented to…

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