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DOJ, CFPB agree to early termination of consent order with indirect auto lender
On May 15, the auto lending branch of an international automobile company (indirect auto lender) reported in an 8-K filing that the DOJ and CFPB had reached an agreement that the indirect auto lender has met the requirements for early termination of a consent order entered into in 2016 over allegations of unfair lending practices. As previously covered in InfoBytes, a joint agency investigation under ECOA found that the indirect auto lender’s policies allowed for dealers to mark up a consumer’s interest rate on the retail installment contract above the established risk-based buy rate. The parties currently await final court approval of a joint stipulation and proposed order for early termination of the consent order from three years to two years in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
House approves repeal of CFPB’s 2013 indirect auto guidance
On May 8, the House voted to repeal, under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), CFPB Bulletin 2013-02 (Bulletin) on indirect auto lending and compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). As previously covered by InfoBytes, the Senate approved the resolution on April 18 and the White House issued a Statement of Administrative Policy supporting the Senate resolution; it is expected that President Trump will sign the measure soon.
If the measure is successful, this would be the first time that Congress has used the CRA to repeal a regulatory issuance outside the statute’s general 60-day period. In December 2017, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a letter to Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa) stating that “the Bulletin is a general statement of policy and a rule” that is subject to override under the CRA, which allowed for the Senate to introduce the resolution measure years after the CFPB released the Bulletin.
CFPB Succession: Bureau dismantles Office for Students; no longer plans student loan regulations; and more
On May 9, according to multiple reports, the CFPB internally announced that the Bureau would eliminate the Office of Students & Younger Consumers and move its staff into the Office of Financial Education as part of acting Director Mulvaney’s agency reorganization. The Bureau will continue to have a Student Loan Ombudsman position, which is required by the Dodd-Frank Act. It is also reported that the Bureau intends to create a new “Office of Cost Benefit Analysis” and rename certain existing offices. As previously covered by InfoBytes, acting Director Mulvaney plans to move the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity from the Division of Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending to the Office of the Director, in order to focus on “advocacy, coordination and education.” Day-to-day responsibility for enforcement and supervision oversight will remain in the renamed Division of Supervision and Enforcement (SE).
The Office of Management Budget (OMB) released the CFPB’s Spring 2018 rulemaking agenda, which no longer includes “Student Loan Servicing” as a Long-Term Action. In previous agendas, the Bureau described its plan for Student Loan Servicing as “The CFPB will continue to monitor the student loan servicing market for trends and developments. As this work continues, the Bureau will evaluate possible policy responses, including potential rulemaking. Possible topics for consideration might include specific acts or practices and consumer disclosures.” In addition to dropping Student Loan Servicing, the Spring 2018 agenda also no longer lists plans for Supervision of Larger Participants in Markets for Personal Loans, Overdraft Services, or Submission of Credit Card Agreements under TILA (more information on the CFPB’s previous plans for these rules can be found here).
As expected, the Spring 2018 agenda also included two new additions to the Proposed Rule Stage:
- HMDA. The Bureau has previously announced it intends to engage in a broader rulemaking to (i) re-examine the criteria determining whether institutions are required to report data; (ii) adjust the requirements related to reporting certain types of transactions; and (iii) re-evaluate the required reporting of additional information beyond the data points required by the Dodd-Frank Act (InfoBytes coverage here). The Bureau indicates it expects a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on any changes to the HMDA rule before 2019.
- Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans. In January, the Bureau announced the intention to reconsider the 2017 payday rule (covered by InfoBytes here). The OMB agenda indicates the Bureau expects a NPRM by February 2019.
Notably, the CFPB continues to include “Debt Collection Rule” in a Proposed Rule Stage, as it has in previous agenda iterations. However, the Bureau has extended the deadline for its NPRM to February 2019.
FFIEC releases 2017 HMDA data; CFPB releases new annual report on mortgage market activity and trends
On May 7, the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council released the 2017 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data on mortgage lending transactions covering information submitted by financial institutions on or before April 18. The data will not remain static, but instead will be updated on an on-going basis to reflect late submissions and resubmissions. The data currently include information on 14.1 million actions: 12.1 million home loan applications, 7.3 million of which resulted in loan originations, and 2.1 million in purchased loans. Observations from the CFPB on the data include: (i) total number of originated loans decreased by 12.4 percent; home-purchase lending increased by 4 percent; (ii) nondepository, independent mortgage companies accounted for 56.1 percent of first-lien owner-occupied home purchase loans (up from 53.3 percent in 2016); and (iii) the share of refinance loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers increased from 16.9 percent to 22.9 percent.
On the same day, the CFPB also released its first annual series of data points describing mortgage market activity based on data reported under HMDA. The report summarizes the 2017 HMDA data and recent trends in the mortgage market.
National bank reaches $480 million settlement with investors over incentive compensation sales program
On May 4, a national bank announced it reached an agreement in principle to pay $480 million to certain investors to resolve a consolidated securities fraud class action, related to the bank’s previous incentive compensation sales program. The class action stems from the September 2016 consent order between the bank and the CFPB which resolved allegations that the bank’s employees opened deposit and credit card accounts for consumers without obtaining consent to do so (previously covered by InfoBytes here). The class action alleges that the bank made misrepresentations and omissions in certain securities disclosures related to its sales practices matters. The bank acknowledged the agreement, which is still pending court approval, in its May 4 10-Q securities filing.
Pennsylvania adopts CFPB mortgage servicing regulations
On April 28, the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities adopted regulations to effectively incorporate Subpart C of the CFPB’s RESPA mortgage servicing regulations (Regulation X), which were amended effective as of April 19. The adopted regulations address, among other things, (i) disclosure requirements; (ii) mortgage servicing transfers; (iii) escrow payments and account balances; (iv) forced-place insurance; and (v) loss mitigation procedures. The adopted regulations were effective on April 28.
District Court partially denies defendants’ time-barred claims, rules certain TSR violations may proceed
On May 3, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California addressed time-barred claims raised by a group of affiliated law firms and their managing attorneys (defendants) that partnered with a now-defunct entity to offer debt relief services to consumers. The court granted in part and denied in part defendants’ request for summary judgment after determining that many of the allegedly improper up-front fees charged to consumers seeking debt relief were collected within the three-year statute of limitations for enforcement actions. As previously covered in InfoBytes last January, the CFPB claimed, among other things, that the defendants violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) by allegedly assisting a different, now-defunct debt relief service company with charging up-front fees. Last May, the district court denied the defendants’ bid for dismissal but at the time “declined to resolve the parties’ dispute over the applicable statute of limitations.” While the CFPB agreed to limit its request for relief to the three years preceding the filing of the suit, the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that the entire action should be barred because the alleged violations relate to a “singular scheme” discovered by the CFPB in 2012. However, according to the court, federal consumer financial law states that “any violations of the TSR that occur within the relevant limitations period are not time-barred.” Therefore, because the CFPB provided evidence that fees were collected in 2015—well within the applicable statute of limitations—the defendants’ request as to violations of the TSR that allegedly occurred within three years of the filing is denied. Notwithstanding, the court granted part of the defendants’ request for summary judgment and barred all claims related to conduct that occurred outside the three-year window because the CFPB did not oppose the motion.
PHH will not challenge CFPB’s constitutionality with Supreme Court
PHH will not seek to appeal the January 31 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which upheld the CFPB’s constitutionality in a 7-3 decision. (Covered by a Buckley Sandler Special Alert.) The Supreme Court requires petitions for writ of certiorari to be filed within 90 days of the decision, which would have put PHH’s deadline around May 1. According to reports, a PHH spokesperson confirmed the company did not file the petition but declined to provide further comment.
As previously covered by InfoBytes, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit recently agreed to hear a similar challenge to the constitutionality of the CFPB’s single-director structure by two Mississippi-based payday loan and check cashing companies.
Senators release report on credit reporting agency from data in CFPB’s public complaint database
On April 30, three Democratic Senate Banking Committee members released a report addressing publicly available complaints the CFPB received regarding the 2017 data breach announcement by a national credit reporting agency. In a letter to the CFPB, which accompanied the release of the report, the Senators encouraged the Bureau to “hold [the credit reporting agency] accountable and act quickly and decisively to protection the millions of consumers harmed by the breach.” Additionally, the Senators make a plea for the CFPB to continue to keep consumer complaints public, citing to recent remarks by Mulvaney that the database would soon be removed from public view. According to the report, within six months of the data breach announcement—which reportedly affected 143 million American consumers—the CFPB received over 20,000 complaints against the company. Of the 20,000 complaints, the issues consumers mentioned include (i) “improper use of a credit report after the breach”; (ii) “incorrect information on credit report”; (iii) “[Company]’s inadequate assistance in resolving problems after the breach”; and (iv) “[Company]’s credit monitoring services, fraud alerts, security freezes, and other identity theft protection products.” The report also cites to specific narratives from consumer complaints that were available through the CFPB’s consumer complaint database.
Coalition of state Attorneys General oppose efforts to weaken CFPB’s investigative authority
On April 25, a coalition of 16 state Attorneys General issued a comment letter responding to the CFPB’s Request for Information (RFI) on Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs). (See previous InfoBytes coverage on the RFI here and here.) According to the letter, the coalition opposes “any effort to curtail the Bureau’s civil investigative demand authority,” noting, among other things, that (i) the CFPB’s implementation of its final rule relating to investigations was “non-controversial” and based on established FTC enforcement practices; (ii) federal agencies are allowed to fulfill their mandates through the legislative grant of civil investigative demand authority; (iii) judicial supervision over CIDs protects recipients’ rights; and (iv) the CFPB “has used its investigative authority responsibly and effectively.”