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.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Discusses OCC’s Regulatory Agenda

In recent remarks delivered at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Capital Markets Summit, Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Rodney E. Hood, outlined the OCC’s strategic priorities for building a resilient and revitalized federal banking system.  Addressing an audience that included leaders from across the financial and business sectors, Acting Comptroller…

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Busy Month for CFPB with Rules Rescinded and Guidance Withdrawn

Over the past month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took a slew of actions with the apparent aim to decrease the CFPB’s regulatory authority. On May 14, 2025, the CFPB proposed rescinding the “NBR Rule” which requires nonbanks to register certain agency enforcement and court orders with the CFPB related to…

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FTC Files Proposed Order To Resolve Allegations of Purportedly Unlawful Student Loan Debt Relief Operation

On May 22, 2025, the FTC filed a proposed stipulated ord​er in the District Court for the Middle District of Florida to resolve allegations ​that several individuals ​and the student loan debt relief companies that they operated engaged in ​lending practices that violated the ​​​FTC Act,​ the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.​ In the complaint, filed…

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CFPB Dismisses Deposit Account Lawsuit Against National Retailer and Fintech Company

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit with prejudice against a major retailer and a fintech company in the District of Minnesota. One of the last actions filed during the Biden administration, the Bureau originally brought claims on December 23, 2024 under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (“CFPA”),…

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FTC Settles with Debt Collector

​On May 1, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had filed an amended complaint​ and entered into a proposed final order with a debt collector and its owner, resolving allegations that the company engaged in a fraudulent debt collection scheme. In its amended complaint, the FTC alleged that the debt collector used…

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CFPB Reports on Consumer Complaint Trends

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently issued its annual report analyzing the consumer complaints it received in 2024.  The CFPB collects complaints through its website, phone calls, and mail.  It also receives referrals from the White House, congressional offices, and other federal and state agencies.  The CFPB then directs…

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CFPB Agrees To Eliminate $8 Cap on Credit Card Late Fees

On April 15, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas vacated a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that capped credit card late fees at $8.  The decision granted a joint motion, brought by the CFPB and the coalition of trade associations that had sued it,…

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Shifting Priorities: Bureau Memorandum Provides Insight into New Era for CFPB

United States Capitol

The first 100 days of the Trump administration have included dramatic changes at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which are part of broader shifts in financial regulation under the new administration. The agency has retreated from many of its enforcement litigations, initiated reductions in force currently subject to legal challenges in…

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California Attorney General Announces Settlement With Realty Company Over Deceptive Contract And Lien Practices

On April 4, 2025, the California Attorney General announced that it had reached a settlement with a California-based realty company concerning claims that the company had violated California false advertising, unfair competition, and telemarketing laws and federal telemarketing and lending laws via allegedly luring vulnerable homeowners into a predatory contract scheme that caused homeowners to…

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Republicans Invoke the CRA to Repeal Chopra-Era Rules

The Republican-led Congress has invoked the Congressional Review Act (CRA) in attempts to revoke final rules that former CFPB Director Chopra issued toward the end of Biden’s Administration.  Under the CRA, Congress can repeal an agency’s final rule by passing a joint resolution of disapproval by simple majority vote.  The…

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CFPB is Proceeding with Some of Its Enforcement Actions, But Most Are Now Stayed or Dismissed

Although the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) voluntarily dismissed a slew of its own enforcement actions following Rohit Chopra’s removal as CFPB Director on January 31, 2025, the Bureau has affirmatively indicated its intent to continue litigating only a handful of cases so far. There were, by our…

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FTC Adds More Servicers to Student Loan Debt Relief Case

On March 28, the FTC announced that it had named five additional corporate defendants and two individuals to its ongoing case against student loan servicers, which alleges the servicers and their operators mislead consumers into thinking they were receiving student debt relief and forgiveness. The original complaint alleges a Nevada-based servicer and its operator falsely…

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FTC Settles with Cash Advance Company to the Tune of $17 Million

On March 27, 2025, the FTC announced that an online cash advance company had agreed to pay $17 million to resolve allegations that it deceived consumers regarding the amount of money they could receive and the speed at which they would receive it. The complaint alleges the company, despite advertising that consumers could receive access…

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New York Seeks to Expand Consumer Protections by Proposing New Legislation and by Increasing Recruitment at its Department of Financial Services

As we recently reported, there have been rollbacks of consumer protections on the federal level, including the curtailing of enforcement activity at the CFPB.  In response to this activity, on March 13, 2025, the New York Office of the Attorney General (OAG) announced its support of new legislation to enable…

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NJ Attorney General Issues Finding of Probable Cause for Discrimination on Part of Cash Advance Business

On March 11, 2025, the New Jersey Attorney General announced that it had issued a Finding of Probable Cause for violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination against a business that provides cash advances and loans to borrowers. The Finding of Probable Cause found that the business had a policy of…

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