States

Former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray and Rohit Chopra, who serves on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), were the keynote speakers during the University of Michigan’s two-day Consumer Protection in an Age of Uncertainty forum.

They offered warnings about the potential negative consequences to law-abiding businesses and consumers resulting from the loosening of federal consumer protection policies.

Find out more about their takes on the current state the regulatory environment.

As many predicted, the dropoff in enforcement aggressiveness from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has led to growth in state-level consumer protection activity – albeit slow, uneven growth.

Some states have been quicker than others to ramp up enforcement activity as the CFPB has become less aggressive, and Buckley Sandler Partner Jonice Gray Tucker explained to Dodd Frank Update some likely reasons for that and how some states are overcoming certain hurdles to becoming more involved on the consumer protection front.

Learn how conflicting political and regulatory ideas hinder state regulators’ efforts to band together.

Wells Fargo did more than kill the proverbial two birds with one proverbial stone when it agreed to pay $575 million to cover damages across all 50 states caused by the bank’s previously disclosed improper retail sales practices, as well as those pertaining to automotive insurance products and mortgage interest rate locks.

In addition to being the largest multistate settlement on record, the matter highlights which states were more affected by the company’s improper practices than others and how some states have chosen to use settlement proceeds to try and prevent consumers from falling victim to similar practices in the future.

Find out more details about what the settlement reveals.

A month after polling places across the country closed their doors for the night, it appears we finally know how the congressional races turned out.

Well … almost.

The Senate has been finalized, and the House appeared to be as well as the final contested race in California seems to be decided. However, allegations in a North Carolina race for Financial Services Committee member Robert Pittenger’s seat have thrown a race thought to be over into unknown status. Read on for the latest on the makeup of the 116th Congress.

Parties connected to a debt collection operation were charged with tricking consumers into paying more than they owe and have been sued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the New York Attorney General’s (NYAG) office.

The FTC does not have the statutory authority to seek redress for harmed consumers but the NYAG does under New York state law and exercised it in this case.

Find out more details about the case.

Arguing that the banking regulator has exceeded its congressional authority by allowing fintechs to apply for bank charters, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has filed its second suit in two years against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in federal court.

The complaint seeks to prevent the agency from granting national bank charters to entities operating as nonbanks based on the OCC’s July fintech charter announcement and subsequent publication of a Licensing Manual Supplement.

Find out more details about the organization’s objections.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is evaluating reports of possible unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) levied against a Florida-based online lender related to a loan add-on product that ratchets up loan costs and has led to numerous defaults.

A Florida congressman said state regulators are investigating the matter in a letter urging acting director Mick Mulvaney to follow suit.

Find out more details about the allegations and what Mulvaney said in response to the congressman.

A New York judge cited reasoning used in dismissing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) case against a company for allegedly scamming 9/11 first-responders and former NFL players in dismissing the New York Attorney General’s case against the same company.

The judge ruled that the AG’s lawsuit was invalid because it invoked a Dodd-Frank Act statute she deemed invalid in a previous ruling. 

Find out the reasoning behind the judge’s decision.

A new task force initiated by an executive order from President Donald Trump is intended to fight fraud through the combined efforts of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission, as well as other government agencies and officials.

The task force is the latest in a series of similar coalitions created by previous administrations.

Find out more about the functions and leadership structure of the new cooperative entity.

The spotlight on state regulators is brighter than in the past with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) electing to focus more energy on functions other than enforcement under Mick Mulvaney’s leadership.

Richard Horn, principal attorney at Garris Horn PLLC and former senior attorney at the CFPB and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., shared the spotlight at the 2018 National Settlement Services Summit with two state regulators – John Lartz from Illinois and Chuck Myers from Virginia – as well as Michelle Korsmo, CEO of the American Land Title Association, to examine their approaches to the new regulatory environment, and taking an active role in shaping it.

Find out what matters the speakers explored in-depth during the session.