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Credit Union National Association: Credit Unions Remain Exempt from the FDCPA
On September 9, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) sent a letter to the CFPB regarding the CFPB’s initial outline of the proposed rule for third party debt collectors. The letter asserts that, since the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was enacted, credit unions have been exempt from the statute’s rules and that to extend any rulemaking pursuant to the statute to include credit unions would be “unlawful.” The CUNA distinguishes credit unions from for-profit debt collectors subject to the FDCPA, claiming that credit unions’ collection approach is more holistic: “They are not just interested in short-term efforts of collecting a debt; instead, they try to find out the specific cause of their member’s financial challenge.” The CUNA is concerned that certain aspects of the CFPB’s proposal as outlined, including the “highlight technical substantiation and oversight requirements,” would negatively impact credit unions. The CUNA reminded the CFPB that pursuant to the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), it is required to consider the recommendations in its letter before finalizing any rule.
CFPB Issues Consent Order to National Bank Over Account Operations
On September 8, the CFPB issued a consent order to a national bank to resolve allegations that its employees opened deposit and credit card accounts for consumers without obtaining consent to do so. According to the CFPB’s consent order, the respondent implemented an incentive compensation program under which employees “engaged in Improper Sales Practices to satisfy goals and earn financial rewards.” The CFPB alleges that the bank’s employees’ Improper Sales Practices were unfair and abusive. Specifically, the consent order alleges that the employees, possibly without consumers’ knowledge or without their consent, (i) opened more than 1.5 million deposit accounts and subsequently transferred money from consumers’ existing accounts to fund the newly opened accounts; (ii) submitted approximately 565,000 credit card account applications on behalf of consumers, with consumers consequently incurring late, annual, and over-draft fees on such accounts; (iii) issued debit cards and created personal identification numbers to activate the cards; and (iv) enrolled consumers in online-banking services. Pursuant to the consent order, the bank, among other things, must pay a civil penalty of $100 million and an expected $2.5 million in consumer redress.
CFSA Releases Positive Payday Loan Testimonials Submitted to the CFPB
On September 6, the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) released a 2,000-plus page document containing testimonials submitted to the CFPB regarding consumers’ positive experiences with the payday loan industry. A CFSA representative uncovered the allegedly “buried” stories through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed December 31, 2015. According to the CFSA, of the newly discovered 12,546 consumer comments regarding to the payday loan industry, 12,308 “praised the industry and its products and services, or otherwise indicated positive experiences.” Among other things, the CFSA further noted that (i) since the CFPB implemented its consumer complaint portal in 2011, approximately 1.5% of all complaints received related to the payday loan industry; (ii) in an FTC 2015 summary of consumer complaints, the “FTC found that just 0.003% of more than three million complaints related to payday lending”; and (iii) at least two customer surveys reveal that payday loan borrowers are overwhelmingly satisfied with the product. Regarding the CFPB’s proposed rules to address the short-term lending industry, CFSA CEO Dennis Shaul commented, “[i]t is clear that millions of consumers are satisfied with the payday loan product and services, and do not want the federal government to take this valued credit option away from them.”
Special Alert: More Turbulence for Marketplace Lending - CFPB Prevails in "True Lender" Litigation
After what seems to be an extended season of heavy weather for marketplace lending, a federal district court in California unleashed a late-Summer lightning storm in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. CashCall, Inc. In a CFPB action leveled against the so-called “tribal model” of online lending, the court held that defendants, CashCall and its affiliated entities and owner, engaged in deceptive practices by collecting on loans that exceeded the usury limits in various states. Although the case focused on the tribal model – a structure where the loan is made by an entity located on tribal land and subsequently transferred to an assignee not affiliated with the tribe – the court’s opinion raises critical issues about the extent to which its analysis applies to the more common “bank partnership model” of marketplace lending.
Click here to view the full Special Alert.
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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.
- Walter E. Zalenski, (202) 461-2910
- John P. Kromer, (202) 349-8040
- Jeffrey P. Naimon, (202) 349-8030
CFPB Monthly Complaint Report Highlights Bank Account and Service Complaints
The CFPB recently issued its monthly report of consumer complaint trends for August. The report spotlights complaints regarding bank accounts and account services, noting that issues related to checking accounts are among the most common complaint (64%). Specifically, the report highlights consumer complaints about the increasing use of credit reporting data to screen customers prior to account opening, with consumers often complaining that they learn of negative reporting information for the first time when trying to open an account and that they have difficulty addressing potential reporting errors. The report also describes consumer frustration with overdraft fees, including when such fees are incurred for small-dollar purchases. Consumers also expressed confusion over eligibility requirements for promotional offers when opening new accounts, and submitted complaints involving “disputes over whether the consumer had met the required terms for a promotional offer.” In addition, the report noted concerns about financial institutions’ error resolution processes, including concerns with drawn-out response times for disputed transactions.
As usual, the August report features a geographic spotlight, this time focusing on complaint trends in Ohio generally and the Columbus metro area specifically. The report noted that 29,400 of the 954,000 complaints received as of August 1, 2016 came from Ohio-based consumers, and that consistent with the national trend, Ohio consumers most often submit complaints about debt collection (28%). Mortgage-related and credit reporting complaints follow as the second and third most-complained-about products, respectively, in both Ohio and Columbus.
Holly Petraeus to Retire from CFPB
On August 26, USAJOBS posted an opening for CFPB Assistant Director, Office of Servicemember Affairs. Currently, Holly Petraeus serves as the CFPB’s Assistant Director, Office of Servicemember Affairs, but during the Association of Military Banks of America Fall Workshop earlier this week Ms. Petraeus announced that she plans to retire from the CFPB. The CFPB has yet to release an official statement regarding Petraeus’s retirement.
CFPB Issues Proposed Rule Seeking to Amend Procedures for Disclosing Certain Confidential Information
On August 24, the CFPB published a proposed rule seeking to amend procedures used by persons in the public domain to obtain information from the CFPB under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act of 1974 and legal proceedings. In part, the proposal also seeks to revise the 2013 final rule related to the “exchange of confidential supervisory information (CSI) with certain agencies.” Specifically, the CFPB proposes to remove the standard for sharing CSI, thereby utilizing the same standard for sharing information that is not considered CSI and giving the CFPB the discretion to disclose CSI to another agency “to the extent that the disclosure of the information is relevant to the exercise of the [agency’s] statutory or regulatory authority.” Among other things, if accepted, the proposal may allow the CFPB to establish a CSI sharing regime to include state attorneys general and other agencies without supervisory power. Comments are due by October 24, 2016.
CFPB Responds to Senators' Request to Tailor Regulations to Exempt Smaller Financial Institutions
On August 17, CFPB Director Cordray responded to a request, from a 70 senator coalition spearheaded by Senators Donnelly (D-IN) and Sasse (R-NE), that the CFPB further tailor its regulations that may be “unduly burdensome” for community banks and credit unions. In Cordray’s response, he stated that the CFPB is committed to achieving well-tailored and effective regulations within the provisions of Dodd-Frank. Further, Cordray outlined already-in-place exemptions for small creditors, various actions taken to ensure the CFPB’s “commitment” to maintaining effective regulations, and highlighted the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Act (SBREFA) panel as “just one part of the Bureau’s broader initiatives to address the unique issues facing small financial institutions.” Cordray did, however, note that one of the CFPB’s objectives is to “enforce Federal consumer financial law ‘consistently, without regard to the status of a person as a depository institution.’”
CFPB Announces New Board and Council Members
On August 19, the CFPB announced new members to the Consumer Advisory Board, the Community Bank Advisory Council, Credit Union Advisory Council, and Academic Research Council. Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB established the Consumer Advisory Board to counsel the agency’s Director on consumer financial issues; the Community Bank Advisory Council, the Credit Union Advisory Council, and the Academic Research Council were created at the Director’s order. The nine newly appointed members to the Consumer Advisory Board and the two new members to the Academic Research Council will serve three-year terms; the seven new members to the Community Bank Council and the eight new members to Credit Union Advisory Council will serve two-year terms.
CFPB Considers Registration Rule for Nonbank Financial Institutions
The CFPB recently issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking vendor feedback on the agency’s consideration of establishing a web-based system that would require nonbank financial institutions to register with the CFPB. The RFI outlines the potential registration system’s capabilities and services, noting that nonbank financial institutions would use it to “apply for, amend, update, or renew a registration online using a single set of uniform applications.” In addition to other data gathering components, the potential registration system may be used for the collection of financial, operational, and organizational structure data. Responses from technology system vendors were due on July 29, 2016, with a disclaimer that the RFI was not “to be construed as a commitment that the CFPB will propose a rulemaking on the registration of nonbank financial institutions or that the CFPB will propose any specific system requirements.”