On October 24, 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it had entered into a Consent Order with a Tennessee-based small dollar lender, resolving allegations that the lender had committed deceptive acts and practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (“CFPA”), 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531, 5536(a)(1)(B). The Consent Order…
On October 24, 2018, the Illinois Attorney General (Illinois AG) announced that it had entered into a settlement agreement with a mortgage company resolving an investigation by the Illinois AG’s Office and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) into allegations of mortgage fraud at one of the company’s branches. According to…
On October 19, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it settled allegations that a Florida-based mortgage lender violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by falsely certifying that it complied with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance requirements for certain loans originated between 2006 and 2011 for $13.2 million. In the lawsuit, which…
On October 15, 2018, in remarks to the Mortgage Banker’s Association, Acting Director Mick Mulvaney declared that the CFPB will move away from “regulation by enforcement” by clarifying standards of conduct, to provide the regulated community with a measure of certainty when engaging in business operations. Mulvaney stated that, under…
On October 18, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued an order requiring a Kentucky bank to pay civil money penalties. The order resolves allegations that the bank violated section 122(a) of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C. § 1632(a), and section 1026.5(a)(1) of Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. § 1026.5(a)(1) by failing…
On October 2, 2018, the U.S. Senate’s Banking Committee held a hearing to review regulators’ implementation of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (S.2155) since its passage in June. As framed by Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID), the law “right-sizes regulations for financial institutions, making it easier…
On September 20, 2018, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion finding that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA’s) “automatic telephone dialing system” (ATDS) definition is vague and ambiguous, and interpreting the statutory definition anew. More specifically, in Marks v. Crunch San Diego, LLC, the court interpreted the TCPA’s ATDS definition…
On October 4, 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with online retailer and its subsidiaries that sells products through revolving-credit accounts and installment-credit accounts, and then sells charged-off account to third-party debt collectors. The consent order resolves the CFPB’s allegations…
On September 13, 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it filed a complaint against a lender, its president, and related entities (“Defendants”) for allegedly making small-dollar loans in exchange for borrowers’ monthly pension payments, which the CFPB alleges is a violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act, 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(B). The Complaint…