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  • California Governor Incorporates Federal Military Lending Act Amendments Into State Financial Code

    State Issues

    On October 5, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law revisions to sections of the state’s Financial Code to incorporate references to federal Military Lending Act (MLA) amendments and applicable regulations. Impacted are the state’s Banking Law, Credit Union Law, Finance Lenders Law, and Deferred Deposit Transaction Law. Specifically, SB 266 is designed to ensure that the California Department of Business Oversight’s Commissioner has the authority to enforce violations of the federal MLA rules by state-regulated lenders. The provisions also incorporate additional changes to Section 394 of the state’s Military and Veterans Code to prohibit discrimination against servicemembers (Assembly Bill No. 1710 was approved by Governor Brown on October 8). The amendments take effect January 1, 2018.

    State Issues State Legislation Lending Military Lending Act Servicemembers

  • California Legislature Urges Congress to Request the Department of Defense Alter Criteria for Safe Harbor Provision in the MLA

    State Issues

    On September 25, the California Legislature filed a joint resolution that urges Congress to impress upon the Department of Defense the need to realign their criteria requiring a social security number for the safe harbor provision in the Military Lending Act (MLA). The resolution noted that the revised MLA regulations requiring lenders to ask for a social security number, among other information from borrowers, may expose lenders to liability under the California Unruh Civil Rights Act. It further states that this provision of the MLA could unnecessarily burden many segments of California’s immigrant communities.

    State Issues State Legislation Military Lending Act Department of Defense Safe Harbor

  • FTC to Host Joint Conference on Protecting Military Consumers

    Consumer Finance

    On July 27, the FTC announced it is partnering with state and local authorities to host the Protecting Military Consumers: A Common Ground Conference on September 7 in Los Angeles to provide training on consumer fraud and other issues affecting servicemembers and their families. The conference is geared towards military attorneys, law enforcement personnel, and consumer protection officials, and will include the following topics:

    • student loans and for-profit colleges;
    • identity theft and imposter scams;
    • debt collections;
    • mortgage disputes; and
    • real estate fraud.

    Additionally, the conference will discuss several federal, state, and local consumer protection laws, including the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the Military Lending Act, and FTC and CFPB rules and regulations.

    Earlier in July, the FTC held a Military Consumer Financial Workshop to educate consumers on financial issues and scams they may face. (See previous InfoBytes coverage here.)

    Consumer Finance Agency Rule-Making & Guidance FTC Servicemembers SCRA Military Lending Act CFPB Student Lending Mortgages Debt Collection Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security

  • OCC Releases Spring 2017 Semiannual Risk Report

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On July 7, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced the release of its Semiannual Risk Perspective for Spring 2017 indicating key risk areas for national banks and federal savings associations. Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika pointed out in his remarks that, “[w]hile these are risks that the system faces as a whole, we note that the risks differ from bank to bank based on size, region, and business model. Compliance, governance, and operational risk issues remain leading risk issues for large banks while strategic, credit, and compliance risks remain the leading issues for midsize and community banks.”

    The report details the four top risk areas:

    • Elevated strategic risk—banks are expanding into new products and services as a result of fintech competition. According to the report, this competition is increasing potential risks. The OCC hopes to finish developing a special purpose banking charter for fintech companies soon.
    • Increased compliance risk—banks must comply with anti-money laundering rules and the Bank Secrecy Act in addition to addressing increased cybersecurity challenges and new consumer protection laws.
    • Upswing in credit risk—underwriting standards for commercial and retail loans have been relaxed as banks exhibit greater enthusiasm for risk and attempt to maintain loan market share as competition increases.
    • Rise in operational risk—banks face increasingly complex cyber threats while relying on third-party service providers, which may be targets for hackers.

    The report used data for the 12 months ending December 31, 2016.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance OCC Risk Management Consumer Finance Payments Consumer Lending Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security Anti-Money Laundering Military Lending Act Compliance Bank Regulatory Vendor Management

  • Texas Governor Passes Legislation Related to Vehicle Installment Contracts, Documentary Fees, and Deferred Presentment Transactions for Military Borrowers

    State Issues

    On June 9, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed legislation (H.B. 2339) amending the state’s Finance Code provisions governing trade-in credit agreements related to motor vehicle retail installment contracts. The law now authorizes a seller—upon execution of a contract—to offer to sell to a buyer a “trade-in credit agreement,” which is “a contractual arrangement under which a retail seller agrees to provide a specified amount as a motor vehicle trade-in credit for the diminished value of the motor vehicle that is the subject of the retail installment contract in connection with which the trade-in credit agreement is offered if the motor vehicle is damaged but not rendered a total loss as a result of a collision accident, with the credit to be applied toward the purchase or lease of a different motor vehicle from the retail seller or an affiliate of the retail seller.” Specifically, a trade-in credit agreement is separate from a retail installment contract, not a term of the retail installment contract, and not insurance. The law further outlines changes related to the amount charged for a trade-in credit agreement as well as terms and conditions of the retail installment contract. The law takes effect September 1, 2017.

    On June 15, the governor signed legislation (H.B. 2949) relating to the maximum amount a retail seller of motor vehicles can charge for a documentary fee. Under the changed provisions, a seller is now required to provide written notice to the finance commission of the amount it intends to charge unless the documentary fee is considered reasonable, which is established as an amount “less than or equal to the amount of the documentary fee presumed reasonable . . . by rule of the finance commission.” In determining whether a fee is reasonable, the commissioner considers the resources a retail seller may need to employ to perform its duties when handling and processing documents related to the sale and financing of the vehicle. The law takes effect September 1, 2017.

    Separately on June 15, the governor signed legislation (H.B 2008) amending the Texas Finance Code to require a lender that enters into a deferred presentment transaction with a military servicemember or a dependent of a servicemember to comply with the Military Lending Act (MLA) (10 U.S.C. § 987) and its implementing regulation. The MLA prohibits creditors from extending consumer credit if the “creditor rolls over, renews, repays, refinances, or consolidates any consumer credit extended to the covered borrower by the same creditor with the proceeds of other consumer credit extended by that creditor to the same covered borrower.” Creditors engaged in deferred presentment transactions or similar payday loan transactions are subject to these limitations “provided however, that the term does not include a person that is chartered or licensed under Federal or State law as a bank, savings association, or credit union.” The law takes effect September 1, 2017.

    State Issues State Legislation Military Lending Act Servicemembers Auto Finance

  • CFPB Releases Supervisory Highlights Report for Fall 2016

    Federal Issues

    On October 31, the CFPB released the 13th Edition of its Supervisory Highlights Report, covering the period May through August of this year. The report shares recent supervisory observations in the areas of automobile loan origination, automobile loan servicing, debt collection, mortgage origination, mortgage servicing, student loan servicing, and fair lending. The report found that the CFPB’s recent supervisory actions returned more than $11 million to approximately 225,000 consumers. The Bureau also set forth new examination procedures for reverse mortgage servicing, student loan servicing, and the Military Lending Act.

    Federal Issues Consumer Finance CFPB Mortgage Origination Student Lending Debt Collection Reverse Mortgages Military Lending Act

  • OCC Releases Bulletin on Revised Examination Procedures for the Military Lending Act

    Federal Issues

    On October 7, following the Federal Reserve’s and the CFPB’s leads, the OCC released Bulletin 2016-33 advising financial institutions of updated interagency examination procedures for compliance with the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Military Lending Act (MLA) July 2015 final rule. As previously summarized in BuckleySandler’s Special Alert, the DoD issued an interpretive rule regarding the amendments to the regulations implementing the MLA on August 26, 2016. The 2015 final rule went into effect for consumer credit products other than credit cards on October 3, 2016. The requirements will take effect for credit card accounts one year later, on October 3, 2017. The OCC plans to include the updated interagency examination procedures in the Comptroller’s Handbook.

    Federal Issues Banking Consumer Finance Credit Cards CFPB Federal Reserve OCC Military Lending Act

  • Revised MLA Examination Procedures Released

    Federal Issues

    On September 29, the Federal Reserve released the interagency examination procedures for the DOD’s Military Lending Act (MLA) final rule published in July of 2015. Also on September 29, the CFPB released its own examination procedures under the final rule, providing guidance as to how the CFPB will conduct reviews under what will be a broader scope of coverage under the MLA, including credit cards, deposit advance products, overdraft lines of credit (not traditional overdraft services), and certain types of installment loans. The final rule goes into effect on Monday, October 3 for most extensions of consumer credit to active duty servicemembers and their dependents.

    Federal Issues Consumer Finance CFPB Federal Reserve Enforcement Military Lending Act Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

  • OCC Senior Deputy Comptroller Highlights the Importance of SCRA and MLA Compliance

    Consumer Finance

    On August 29, OCC Senior Deputy Comptroller Grovetta Gardineer delivered remarks at the 2016 Association of Military Banks of America Workshop, emphasizing the significance of banks’ compliance with the Servicemember Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and the Military Lending Act (MLA). Although Gardineer noted that SCRA-related issues have decreased since making SCRA compliance an examination focus, she stressed that room for improvement remains. Gardineer advised banks to perform due diligence with third-party vendors, noting that banks “will be held accountable for failures” by their third-party vendors. Gardineer further cautioned that, in light of the new MLA requirements taking effect on October 3, banks must ensure that they properly identify military borrowers entitled to the MLA’s expanded coverage, which will include “nearly all consumer credit covered under the Truth in Lending Act.”

    TILA OCC SCRA Military Lending Act Vendor Management

  • Special Alert: Department of Defense Issues Interpretive Rule Regarding Compliance with the Military Lending Act

    Consumer Finance

    Today, the Department of Defense (“DoD” or “Department”) published in the Federal Register an interpretive rule regarding compliance with its July 2015 amendments to the regulations implementing the Military Lending Act (“MLA”). The July 2015 amendments will extend the MLA’s 36% military annual percentage rate (“MAPR”) cap, ban on mandatory arbitration, and other limitations to a wider range of credit products—including open-end credit—offered or extended to active duty service members and their dependents (“covered borrowers”). Compliance is mandatory beginning on October 3, 2016, except that credit card issuers have until October 3, 2017 to comply. Additional BuckleySandler materials on the MLA amendments are available here, here, and here.

    DoD stated that the interpretive rule “does not substantively change the [July 2015] regulation implementing the MLA, but rather merely states the Department’s preexisting interpretations of an existing regulation” and thus is effective immediately upon publication. The DoD also emphasized that the guidance provided in the rule “represent[s] official interpretations of the Department….”

    Click here to view the full Special Alert.

    * * *

    Questions regarding the matters discussed in this Alert may be directed to any of our lawyers listed below, or to any other BuckleySandler attorney with whom you have consulted in the past.

     

    Military Lending Act Manley Williams Valerie Hletko Sasha Leonhardt Special Alerts

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