On December 22, 2017, four Democratic Senators, Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), introduced a bill titled the “Accountability for Wall Street Executives Act of 2017.” The bill amends the Revised Statutes, 12 U.S.C. § 484, to arm state attorneys general and other law enforcement…
On December 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a motion to compel discovery responses and for the production of documents in a case the FTC filed against a student loan debt relief company and its owner in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The FTC claims that the student…
This December, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) released a letter to credit unions detailing its primary areas of supervisory focus for 2018. The NCUA intends for credit unions to rely on the letter to better prepare for their examinations by the NCUA throughout 2018. The seven areas of focus…
On December 8, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had settled allegations that a Louisiana-based mortgage lender violated the False Claims Act (FCA) through its underwriting of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgage loans. In the lawsuit, which is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, the…
On December 21, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced delays and potential changes to its Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and pre-paid card regulations. Both sets of regulations have been subject to criticism by industry participants and others. Although lenders will have to comply with the CFPB’s HMDA…
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) provides Congress with oversight over administrative rulemaking, providing it with a veto of sorts over rulemaking with which it disagrees. For an agency rule to become effective, the agency must submit a report to Congress describing the rule. Congress then has 60 days to issue…
On December 6, 2016, the Federal Reserve Board announced that it entered into a consent order with a Pennsylvania bank ordering it to cease and desist deceptive student lending practices, and assessing millions of dollars in civil penalties. According to the order, the state-chartered bank and its agent violated section 5 of…
On December 6, 2016, the Federal Reserve Board announced that it entered into a consent order with a Pennsylvania bank ordering it to cease and desist deceptive student lending practices, and assessing millions of dollars in civil penalties. According to the order, the state-chartered bank and its agent violated section 5 of the Federal…
On December 5, 2017, the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union filed a lawsuit against President Trump and Mick Mulvaney over Trump’s appointment of Mulvaney as the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The case, Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union v. Trump, et al., No….
On Tuesday, December 5, 2017, the U.S. Senate’s Banking Committee marked up the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, S. 2155, which is bipartisan legislation set to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act. The bill is co-sponsored by twenty Senators–10 Republicans and 10 Democrats–and comes on the tails of the…
On November 29, the New Mexico Attorney General (AG) announced that, after a year-long investigation of a national bank, the AG will seek damages on behalf of thousands of New Mexico consumers for whom the bank had created unauthorized banking and credit card accounts. The AG announced that if he cannot reach a resolution with the bank,…
On November 28, the Federal Reserve announced that it had entered into a consent order with a Kansas state bank, resolving allegations that the bank engaged in deceptive residential mortgage lending practices in violation of Section 5 the Federal Trade Commission Act. According to the consent order, the bank’s loan officers often gave borrowers…
Goodwin announced today that Anthony Alexis, the former Head of the Office of Enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has joined the firm in the Washington, D.C. office as a partner in the Financial Industry Practice and as the head of the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Enforcement Practice. “Tony’s extensive enforcement and compliance…
Goodwin announced today that Anthony Alexis, the former Head of the Office of Enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has joined the firm in the Washington, D.C. office as a partner in the Financial Industry Practice and as the head of the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Enforcement Practice. “Tony’s…
On November 16, 2017, the Southern District of California dismissed TCPA claims on standing grounds, finding that the plaintiff had not alleged a concrete injury. In Selby v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, no. 3:17-cv-00973 (S.D. Cal), Judge Bencivengo concluded that the telephone calls the plaintiff allegedly received were not “telemarketing” calls…
On November 15, 2017, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (“USAO”) announced that a jury has convicted the owner of an alleged fraudulent lending scheme (the “Defendant”) for one count of conspiracy to collect unlawful debts in violation of the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”); one…
On November 8, 2017, the OCC issued guidance on the impact of less-than-satisfactory Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) ratings on subsequent licensing applications by financial institutions subject to the CRA. This new guidance follows on the heels of OCC guidance issued on October 12, 2017, on which LenderLaw Watch previously reported, which…
On November 21, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a national bank, resolving allegations over the bank’s allegedly harmful student loan servicing practices and requiring it to pay millions in consumer relief and civil penalties. According to the CFPB, the bank engaged…
Three months after the U.S. House of Representatives voted on July 25, 2017 to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Arbitration Rule, the U.S. Senate followed suit. On October 24, 2017, the Senate passed a joint resolution previously passed by the House disapproving of the Arbitration Rule with a 51-to-50…
On November 9, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced its lawsuit against a foreclosure trustee for wrongfully foreclosing on at least twenty-eight servicemembers in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”), 50 U.S.C. § 3953. The SCRA prohibits foreclosure on the home of a servicemember during active military service…