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  • Dem senators urge CFPB to expand Regulation E fraud protections for P2P payment service users

    Federal Issues

    On July 20, six Senate Democrats sent a letter to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra urging the Bureau to hold banks that own instant digital payment networks accountable for facilitating fraudulent payments. In the letter, the senators noted that “consumers are often on the hook because existing rules do not reflect new technological developments.” The Senators further noted that the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and Regulation E protect consumers “if they are tricked into handing over account information to a fraudster who then initiates a transfer.” However, the letter further explained, that consumers are not protected “if they are tricked into opening an application to transfer funds directly to the fraudster.” The senators believe consumers should be protected in both instances. In particular, the Senators suggested that the CFPB could issue guidance providing that a “fraudulently induced” transfer counts as an “unauthorized” transaction under the EFTA, which could “end up shifting liability from consumers to financial institutions.” The letter suggested, among other things, that the Bureau expand the definition of what counts as a payment “error” under the EFTA, to “clarify that, in certain circumstances, a payment is an 'error' when a consumer is defrauded into initiating a transfer to a scammer.” The letter further argued that expanding financial institutions’ potential liability for covering their customers’ losses to fraud would create “powerful incentives” for them to prevent scams on their payment platforms. The letter concludes with the senators urging the Bureau “to similarly protect banks’ customers against transfers with ‘fraudulent intent’ involving other consumers on payment services that banks themselves own, operate, and control.”

    Federal Issues U.S. Senate CFPB EFTA Regulation E Consumer Finance

  • CFPB, OCC issue consent orders against national bank

    Federal Issues

    On July 14, the CFPB announced a consent order against a national bank to resolve allegations that the bank engaged in unfair and abusive acts or practices with respect to unemployment insurance benefit recipients who filed notices of error concerning alleged unauthorized electronic fund transfers (EFTs). The CFPB alleged that the bank violated the CFPA by, among other things: (i) determining that “no error had occurred and [by] freezing cardholder accounts based solely on the results of [the bank’s] automated Fraud Filter”; (ii) “retroactively applying its automated Fraud Filter to reverse permanent credits for unemployment insurance benefit prepaid debit cardholders whose notices of error [the bank] had previously investigated and paid”; and (iii) “impeding unemployment insurance benefit prepaid debit cardholders’ efforts to file notices of error and seek liability protection from unauthorized EFTs.” The CFPB also claimed that the bank violated the EFTA and Regulation E by “fail[ing] to conduct reasonable investigations” of cardholders’ notices of error. Under the terms of the Bureau’s consent order, the bank is required to provide redress to harmed consumers, review and reform its unemployment insurance benefit prepaid debit card program, and pay a $100 million civil penalty to the Bureau.

    The same day, the OCC announced a consent order and a $125 million civil money penalty against the bank for alleged unsafe or unsound practices related to the same prepaid card program. According to the OCC, the bank, among other things: (i) “fail[ed] to establish effective risk management” over its unemployment card program”; and (ii) “beginning in 2020, denied or delayed many consumers’ access to unemployment benefits when consumers filed or attempted to file [unemployment insurance benefits] unauthorized transaction claims.” The OCC’s civil money penalty and remediation requirement is in addition to the CFPB’s civil money penalty.

    Federal Issues CFPB Enforcement OCC UDAAP Unfair Abusive CFPA Electronic Fund Transfer Prepaid Cards EFTA Regulation E Risk Management Consumer Finance

  • FTC shares 2021 enforcement report with CFPB

    Federal Issues

    On June 3, the FTC announced that it submitted its 2021 Annual Financial Acts Enforcement Report to the CFPB. The report covers FTC enforcement activities regarding the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA), and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA). Highlights of the enforcement matters covered in the report include, among other things:

    • Automobile Credit and Leasing. The report discussed the FTC’s July 2021 settlement with the owners of car dealerships in Arizona and New Mexico (collectively, “defendants”) resolving claims that the defendants misrepresented consumer information on finance applications and misrepresented financial terms in advertisements in violation of TILA and CLA (covered by InfoBytes here).
    • Payday Lending. The report highlighted the FTC’s settlement against a payday lending enterprise for allegedly overcharging consumers millions of dollars, deceiving them about the terms of their loans, and failing to make required loan disclosures. According to the report, the owners and operators of the settling entities are banned from making loans or extending credit, nearly all debt held by the company will be deemed paid in full, and the companies involved are being liquidated, with the proceeds to be used to provide redress to consumers harmed by the company.
    • Credit Repair and Debt Relief. The report discussed the FTC’s settlement with the operators of a student loan debt relief scheme, who were charged with falsely promising consumers the company could lower or eliminate student loan balances, illegally imposing upfront fees for credit repair services, and signing consumers up for high-interest loans to pay the fees without making required loan disclosures in violation of TILA. The order bans the defendants from providing debt relief services and collecting any further payments from consumers who purchased the services, and requires the defendants to return money to be used to refund consumers.

    Additionally, the report addressed the FTC’s research and policy efforts and highlighted the FTC’s Military Task Force’s work on military consumer protection issues.

    Federal Issues FTC CFPB Enforcement TILA CLA EFTA Consumer Finance UDAP

  • CFPB issues spring supervisory highlights

    Federal Issues

    On May 2, the CFPB released its spring 2022 Supervisory Highlights, which details its supervisory and enforcement actions in the areas of auto servicing, consumer reporting, credit card account management, debt collection, deposits, mortgage origination, prepaid accounts, remittances, and student loan servicing. The report’s findings cover examinations completed between July and December 2021. Highlights of the examination findings include:

    • Auto Servicing. Bureau examiners identified instances of servicers engaging in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices connected to wrongful repossessions, misleading final loan payment amounts, and overcharges for add-on products.
    • Consumer Reporting. The Bureau found deficiencies in credit reporting companies’ (CRCs) compliance with FCRA dispute investigation requirements and furnishers’ compliance with FCRA and Regulation V accuracy and dispute investigation requirements. Examples include (i) both CRCs and furnishers failed to provide written notice to consumers providing the results of reinvestigations and direct dispute investigations; (ii) furnishers failed to send updated information to CRCs following a determination that the information reported was not complete or accurate; and (iii) furnishers’ policies and procedures contained deficiencies related to the accuracy and integrity of furnished information.
    • Credit Card Account Management. Bureau examiners identified violations of Regulation Z related to billing error resolution, including instances where creditors failed to (i) resolve disputes within two complete billing cycles after receiving a billing error notice; (ii) reimburse consumers after determining a billing error had occurred; (iii) conduct reasonable investigations into billing error notices due to human errors and system weaknesses; and (iv) provide consumers with the evidence relied upon to determine a billing error had not occurred. Examiners also identified Regulation Z violations connected to creditors’ acquisitions of pre-existing credit card accounts from other creditors, and identified deceptive acts or practices related to credit card issuers’ advertising practices.
    • Debt Collection. The Bureau found instances of FDCPA and CFPA violations where debt collectors used false or misleading representations in connection with identity theft debt collection. Report findings also discussed instances where debt collectors engaged in unfair practices by failing to timely refund overpayments or credit balances.
    • Deposits. The Bureau discussed violations related to Regulation E, which implements the EFTA, including occurrences where institutions (i) placed duplicate holds on certain mobile check deposits that were deemed suspicious instead of a single hold as intended; (ii) failed to honor a timely stop payment request; (iii) failed to complete error investigations following a consumer’s notice of error because the consumer did not submit an affidavit; and (iv) failed to provide consumers with notices of revocation of provisional credit connected with error investigations regarding check deposits at ATMs.
    • Mortgage Origination. Bureau examiners identified Regulation Z violations concerning occurrences where loan originators were compensated differently based on the terms of the transaction. Under the Bureau’s 2013 Loan Originator Final Rule, “it is not permissible to differentiate compensation based on credit product type, since products are simply a bundle of particular terms.” Examiners also found that certain lenders failed to retain sufficient documentation to establish the validity for revisions made to credit terms.
    • Prepaid Accounts. The Bureau found violations of Regulation E and EFTA related to institutions’ failure to submit prepaid account agreements to the Bureau within the required time frame. Examiners also identified instances where institutions failed to honor oral stop payment requests related to payments originating through certain bill pay systems. The report cited additional findings where institutions failed to properly conduct error investigations.
    • Remittances. Bureau examiners identified violations of the EFTA, Regulation E, and deceptive acts and practices. Remittance transfer providers allegedly made false and misleading representations concerning the speed of transfers, and in multiple instances, entered into service agreements with consumers that violated the “prohibition on waivers of rights conferred or causes of action created by EFTA.” Examiners also identified several issues related to the Remittance Rule’s disclosure, timing, and recordkeeping requirements.
    • Student Loan Servicing. Bureau examiners identified several unfair acts or practices connected to private student loan servicing, including that servicers failed to make advertised incentive payments (which caused consumers to not receive payments to which they were entitled), and failed to issue timely refund payments in accordance with loan modification payment schedules.

    The report also highlights recent supervisory program developments and enforcement actions, including the Bureau’s recent decision to invoke a dormant authority to examine nonbanks (covered by InfoBytes here).

    Federal Issues CFPB Supervision Examination UDAAP Auto Lending CFPA Consumer Finance Consumer Reporting Credit Report FCRA Regulation V Credit Furnishing Credit Cards Regulation Z Regulation E EFTA Debt Collection Mortgages Deposits Prepaid Accounts Remittance Student Loan Servicer

  • CFPB, New York sue remittance provider

    Federal Issues

    On April 21, the CFPB and New York attorney general filed a complaint against a remittance provider (defendant) for allegedly violating the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and its implementing Regulation E and the Remittance Rule (the Rule) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), among various consumer financial protection laws. The Bureau’s announcement called the defendant a “repeat offender” citing that in 2018, the FTC filed a motion for compensatory relief and modified order for permanent injunction against the defendant, which alleged that it failed to adopt and implement a comprehensive fraud prevention program mandated by the 2009 order (covered by InfoBytes here). The CFPB complaint alleges that from October 2018 through 2022, the defendant: (i) violated the Remittance Rule requirements by repeatedly failing “to provide fund availability dates that were accurate, when the Rule required such accuracy”; (ii) “repeatedly ignored the Rule’s error-resolution requirements when addressing notices of error from consumers in New York, including in this district, and elsewhere;” and (iii) failed to establish policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with money-transferring laws, in violation of Regulation E. The complaint further noted that the defendant’s “own assessments of consumers’ complaints showed that the dates Defendants disclosed to consumers, repeatedly, were wrong,” and that the defendant “found multiple delays in making funds available to designated recipients, including delays that constituted errors under the Rule,” among other things. Finally, the Bureau claims that the defendant violated the CFPA “by failing to make remittance transfers timely available to designated recipients or to make refunds timely available to senders.” The Bureau’s complaint seeks consumer restitution, disgorgement, injunctive relief, and civil money penalties. According to a statement released by CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, "the remittance market is ripe for reinvention, and the CFPB will be examining ways to increase competition and innovation for the benefit of both families and honest businesses, while also avoiding creating a new set of harms."

    Federal Issues State Issues CFPB New York State Attorney General Consumer Finance CFPA Enforcement Remittance Rule FTC Repeat Offender Regulation E EFTA

  • FDIC highlights NSF/overdraft fees, fair lending in 2022 Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights

    On March 31, the FDIC released the spring 2022 edition of the Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights to provide information and observations related to the FDIC’s consumer compliance supervision of state non-member banks and thrifts in 2021. Topics include:

    • A summary of the FDIC’s supervisory approach in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including efforts made by banks to meet the needs of consumers and communities.
    • An overview of the most frequently cited violations (approximately 78 percent of total violations involved TILA, the Flood Disaster Protection Act (FDPA), EFTA, Truth in Savings Act, and RESPA). During 2021, the FDIC initiated 20 formal enforcement actions and 24 informal enforcement actions addressing consumer compliance examination observations, and issued civil money penalties totaling $2.7 million against institutions to address violations of the FDPA and Section 5 of the FTC Act.
    • Information on the charging of multiple non-sufficient funds fees (NSF) for re-presented items, and risk-mitigating activities taken by banks to avoid potential violations. According to the FDIC, “failure to disclose material information to customers about re-presentment practices and fees” may be deceptive. The failure to disclose material information to customers “may also be unfair if there is the likelihood of substantial injury for customers, if the injury is not reasonably avoidable, and if there is no countervailing benefit to customers or competition. For example, there is risk of unfairness if multiple fees are assessed for the same transaction in a short period of time without sufficient notice or opportunity for consumers to bring their account to a positive balance.” Recommendations on addressing overdraft issues are discussed in the report.
    • An overview of fair lending concerns highlighting ways to mitigate risk, including “[m]aintaining written policies and procedures that include information for lending staff to reference when applying credit decision criteria and determining whether borrowers are creditworthy” and reviewing requirements used to screen potential applicants to make sure there is no “discriminatory impact.”
    • Information on regulatory developments, such as (i) rulemaking related to the Community Reinvestment Act, flood insurance, false advertising/misuse of the FDIC’s name or logo rulemaking, deposit insurance, and LIBOR; and (ii) guidance on fintech due diligence, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and third-party risk management.
    • A summary of consumer compliance resources available to financial institutions.
    • An overview of consumer complaint trends.

    Bank Regulatory Federal Issues FDIC Supervision Compliance Examination Overdraft Consumer Finance TILA Flood Disaster Protection Act EFTA Truth in Savings Act RESPA Fair Lending

  • District Court rules apps’ terms of service hyperlinks were clear and conspicuous

    Courts

    On February 23, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that parties must arbitrate class claims concerning alleged fraudulent transactions on app users’ accounts. Plaintiffs—users of the defendants’ mobile payment platform who claimed that third parties fraudulently withdrew funds from their app accounts—alleged that the defendants’ inadequate dispute resolution process “improperly places the burden on the user to prove that a disputed transaction was unauthorized” in violation of the EFTA and N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 349. Defendants, however, countered that the plaintiffs agreed to arbitrate any disputes related to their app accounts, and moved to compel arbitration and dismiss the complaint. The court analyzed the applicable sign-up flows and ruled that in signing up for the apps, users agreed to unambiguous terms of service, which included an arbitration agreement presented in a clickable hyperlinked URL. The court rejected plaintiffs’ assertion that a reasonably prudent smartphone user would not think to click on the terms of service hyperlink, stating that the hyperlink for both apps provided reasonably clear and conspicuous interfaces. The court further found that the claims were subject to arbitration because plaintiffs’ specifically assented to the arbitration provisions and that the parties’ agreed to present any question of arbitrability to an arbitrator.

    Courts Arbitration Class Action Consumer Finance Mobile Payments EFTA State Issues New York

  • CFPB releases EFTA bulletin

    Federal Issues

    On February 15, the CFPB released a bulletin reiterating that the EFTA and its implementing regulation, Regulation E, apply to government benefit accounts with the exception of certain state and local electronic benefit transfer programs. The EFTA establishes, among other things, that “no person may require a consumer to establish an account for receipt of electronic fund transfers with a particular financial institution as a condition of employment or receipt of government benefits.” According to the Bulletin, this “compulsory use prohibition ensures that consumers receiving the government benefits” are provided “a choice with respect to how they receive their funds.” The bulletin also summarized the regulation’s disclosure requirements for government benefit accounts, which includes disclosing that the consumer: (i) “has several options to receive benefit payments, followed by a list of the options available to the consumer, and a statement directing the consumer to tell the agency which option the consumer chooses”; or (ii) “does not have to accept the government benefit account and directing the consumer to ask about other ways to receive government benefit payments.”

    Federal Issues CFPB EFTA Consumer Finance Regulation E

  • CFPB updates remittance transfer examination procedures

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    Recently, the CFPB updated its remittance transfer examination procedures to reflect the latest amendments to Regulation E (EFTA’s implementing regulation), Subpart B, as of May 2020. The updates are reflected within the Bureau’s Supervision and Examinations Manual. The updated procedures outline practices for examiners when evaluating institutions that provide remittances in the normal course of business to individuals and businesses in foreign countries. “Examiners should complete a risk assessment, conduct necessary scoping, and use these procedures, in conjunction with the compliance management system review procedures, to conduct a remittance transfer examination,” the Bureau stated. The procedures specify four objectives for remittance transfer examinations: (i) to assess the quality of a regulated entity’s compliance risk management systems in its remittance transfer business; (ii) to identify acts or practices that materially increase the risk of federal consumer financial law violations, as well as associated harm to consumers in connection with remittance transfers; (iii) to gather facts to help determine whether a supervised entity engages in acts or practices in connection with remittance transfers that are likely to violate federal consumer financial law; and (iv) to determine, in accordance with CFPB internal consultation requirements, whether a federal consumer financial law has been violated and whether it is appropriate to take further supervisory or enforcement action.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance CFPB Remittance Transfer Rule Examination Regulation E EFTA

  • 9th Circuit partially reverses unauthorized EFTs action

    Courts

    On December 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s dismissal of an action under the EFTA against a national bank related to alleged unauthorized electronic fund transfers. The plaintiff, a foreign national who resided primarily outside the U.S., held several accounts with the defendant, including the checking account at issue. According to the plaintiff, “through unknown means, unidentified individuals gained access to her [] checking account in October 2017 and began making unauthorized withdrawals without her knowledge.” A separate bank flagged a large transfer from the plaintiff’s account and reached out to the defendant’s fraud department. That bank ultimately refunded the plaintiff’s money; however, according to the opinion, the defendant allegedly did not change the plaintiff’s account number and password, freeze her account, or inform her of the unauthorized transfer. From November 2017 through March 2019, more than 100 additional unauthorized withdrawals were made. The plaintiff acknowledged that she did not report any of these unauthorized transactions until March 2019, claiming she had been overseas with “‘very limited or no’ internet access to check her bank statements.” While some of the unauthorized withdrawals were reimbursed through the defendant’s internal dispute-resolution process, the defendant allegedly “refused to reimburse her for $300,000 of the losses she suffered, citing her failure to report the initial unauthorized withdrawals within 60 days of their appearance on her bank statements, as the EFTA ordinarily requires.” The plaintiff sued, claiming that the defendant violated the EFTA or, alternatively, California’s EFTA counterpart, and asserting various other state law claims. The district court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss, ruling that because the plaintiff “failed to report the withdrawals at issue” within the required time frame, “the EFTA bars her claim as a matter of law.”

    On appeal, the 9th Circuit determined that the plaintiff plausibly alleged sufficient facts under the EFTA to suggest that “the subsequent unauthorized transfers for which she sought reimbursement would still have occurred.” While the plaintiff did not dispute that she failed to report any of the unauthorized withdrawals to the defendant within EFTA’s 60-day reporting period, she argued that her compliance was excused based on her limited access to her banking records and that the defendant “was already aware of the initial $29,000 withdrawal in November 2017[.]” The appellate court agreed with the district court that the plaintiff failed to “plausibly explain how someone with [her] financial means lacked adequate internet access to view her banking records for more than a year.” The 9th Circuit also rejected the plaintiff’s argument that she did not need to report the unauthorized withdrawals by virtue of the defendant’s communications with the other bank, agreeing that the EFTA “says nothing about a bank receiving notice from third-party sources unaffiliated with the consumer”

    However, the 9th Circuit disagreed with the district court’s decision to dismiss the EFTA claim or its California counterpart, after concluding that the plaintiff satisfied her pleading burden by alleging facts “plausibly suggesting that even if she had reported an unauthorized transfer within the 60-day period, the subsequent unauthorized transfers for which she [sought] reimbursement would still have occurred.” The panel emphasized that a consumer may be held liable for unauthorized transfers occurring after the 60-day period only where the bank establishes that those transfers “‘would not have occurred but for the failure of the consumer’” to report the earlier unauthorized transfer within the 60-day period. The district court “overlooked this requirement, and the error was not harmless,” the appellate court explained.

    Courts Appellate Ninth Circuit EFTA Consumer Finance Electronic Fund Transfer State Issues California

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