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CFPB Partners with Newark on Consumer Complaint Hotline
On February 7, the CFPB announced that, through a pilot partnership with Newark, New Jersey, the CFPB will accept and respond to questions and complaints about financial products and services posed directly to the Bureau by local residents. The agreement will allow Newark consumers to dial a local hotline and be connected with the Consumer Response team, which will screen complaints for completeness, jurisdiction, and non-duplication. As with consumer complaints submitted to the CFPB through other channels, hotline complaints from Newark residents that meet the initial screening criteria will be sent to the subject company for review. These companies are expected to respond within 15 days, and to close most complaints within 60 days. Consumers lodging a complaint via the hotline can log into the CFPB’s website to check the status of their complaint and to provide feedback about the company’s response. The CFPB currently is accepting complaints regarding credit cards, mortgages, deposit products and services, consumer loans, student loans, and credit reporting.
Third Circuit Holds Notice Sufficient to Preserve Borrower's Three-Year TILA Rescission Right
On February 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that a borrower need only provide written notice of intent to rescind a loan within the statutory three-year rescission period to preserve that right; a borrower need not also file a complaint within the three-year period. Sherzer v. Homestar Mortg. Servs., No. 11-4254, 2013 WL 425835 (3rd Cir. Feb. 5, 2013). TILA allows borrowers three years to rescind a loan if the lender fails to provide certain required disclosures. In this case, counsel to the borrowers—who had obtained two mortgage loans from two different lenders—sent a letter to the lenders within three years of the closing date asserting that the lenders materially violated TILA by failing to provide certain disclosures. The letter also notified the lenders that the borrowers were exercising their right to rescind the loans. When the lenders refused to rescind one of the loans, the borrowers filed suit more than three years after closing. On appeal, the court reversed the district court, which had dismissed the borrowers’ rescission claims as untimely. The Third Circuit instead held that (i) nothing in the language of the statute (or its implementing regulation) requires the filing of a court action to invoke the right to rescind, and (ii) valid written notice of rescission within the three-year period is sufficient. The court acknowledged concerns about the practical impacts of such a holding on lenders, but stated it was constrained by the statute’s text. In so holding, the Third Circuit agreed with the position advocated by the CFPB and already adopted by the Fourth Circuit, but split from the Ninth and Tenth Circuits, which have held that a borrower must file a complaint within the three-year period to properly exercise the rescission right. The same issue remains pending in the Eighth Circuit.
Republican Senators Reiterate Opposition to CFPB Nomination, Demand Structural Reforms
On February 1, Republican Senators sent a letter to President Obama to reaffirm their position that the CFPB lacks transparency and accountability, and that until structural reforms are implemented, the 43 signatories will continue to block consideration of any nominee for CFPB director. Specifically, the letter states that (i) the CFPB director-led structure should be replaced by a bipartisan board of directors, (ii) the CFPB should be subject to the annual congressional appropriations process, and (iii) prudential regulators should be empowered to serve as a safety and soundness check to CFPB actions. Also on February 1, Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), who opted not to sign the letter to President Obama, sent a separate letter to CFPB Director Cordray to highlight the “commonsense reforms” to the CFPB that the two previously have discussed, including a change in the CFPB’s governance structure. The letter states that Mr. Cordray “noted…leadership by a bipartisan board provides some stability and continuity in regulation over time.” On February 7, Senator Portman reportedly is aiming to serve as a liaison between the White House and congressional Republicans on Mr. Cordray’s pending nomination and potential CFPB reforms. The only other Republican Senator not to sign the letter to President Obama was Senator Bob Corker (R-TN).
Special Alert: Detailed Analysis of CFPB's Mortgage Servicing Rules
On January 17, the CFPB issued final rules amending Regulation Z (TILA) and Regulation X (RESPA) to implement certain mortgage servicing standards set forth by the Dodd-Frank Act and to address other issues identified by the CFPB. The rule amending Regulation Z includes changes to (i) periodic billing statement requirements, (ii) notices about adjustable rate mortgage interest rate adjustments, and (iii) rules on payment crediting and payoff statements. The rule amending Regulation X addresses (i) force-placed insurance requirements, (ii) error resolution and information request procedures, (iii) information management policies and procedures, (iv) standards for early intervention with delinquent borrowers, (v) rules for contact with delinquent borrowers, and (vi) enhanced loss mitigation procedures. This Alert includes a detailed analysis of these nine topics and also provides links to each of the model forms amended or added by the rule. For ease of reference, this Alert contains a detailed, hyper-linked table of contents. Click here to download our detailed analysis of CFPB's Mortgage Servicing Rules.
CFPB Launches Inquiry into Financial Products Marketed through Higher Learning Institutions
On January 31, the CFPB issued a notice and request for comment about how current and future arrangements between institutions of higher education and financial institutions could be structured “to promote positive financial decision-making among young consumers.” The inquiry also is designed to help the CFPB “develop a clearer picture of the financial products and services that are being offered to college students, as well as consumers’ experiences using those products and services.” Specifically, with regard to campus affinity relationships, the CFPB wants to know, among other things, (i) what types of campus affinity products are being offered to students, what features do they have, how are they being marketed, and what are their terms and conditions, including fees, (ii) what information about students is being provided to the education institution, (iii) the nature and volume of student complaints, (iv) what benefits are education institutions realizing through affinity relationships, and (v) the extent to which these products are bundled with student identification cards. The CFPB also seeks similar information about other financial products marketed to students. The CFPB is seeking comments from various stakeholders, including students, institutions of higher education, and financial institutions by March 18, 2013.
CFPB Names Acting Deputy Director
On January 31, the CFPB announced that Steve Antonakes will serve as acting Deputy Director, following the previously announced departure on the same day by Deputy Director Raj Date. Mr. Antonakes currently serves as the CFPB’s Associate Director for Supervision, Enforcement, and Fair Lending. He will retain all the responsibilities of that position while also serving as acting Deputy Director. Mr. Antonakes is a former state financial services regulator who joined the CFPB in November 2010 and last year was promoted from Assistant Director for Large Bank Supervision. Mr. Date was the first Deputy Director of the CFPB, and brought to the position his experience as a strategy consultant and bank executive.
Special Alert: Analysis of Final ECOA and HPML Appraisal Rules
On January 18, the federal banking agencies issued a final rule amending Regulation Z to implement certain requirements from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act) that require creditors to obtain appraisals for a subset of loans called Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans (HPMLs), and to notify consumers who apply for these loans of their right to a copy of appraisal. On the same day, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), as amended by the Dodd-Frank Act, to require creditors to provide residential mortgage loan applicants with a copy of any and all appraisals and other written valuations developed in connection with an application for closed or open-end credit that is to be secured by a first lien on a dwelling. Both rules take effect on January 18, 2014. BuckleySandler has prepared a Special Alert that provides additional details regarding the HPML appraisal rule, as well as a Special Alert regarding the ECOA appraisal rule.
D.C. Circuit Declares President Obama's NLRB Recess Appointments Unconstitutional
On January 25, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made by President Obama in January 2012 during a purported Senate recess were unconstitutional, and vacated an order of the NLRB as constituted with those improperly appointed members. Noel Canning v. NLRB, No. 12-1115, slip. op (D.C. Cir. Jan. 25, 2013). The court, making a distinction between recesses generally and “the Recess” as used in the Constitution, held that the President can only make recess appointments during intersession recesses, and not during intrasession recesses. The court explained that the President's NLRB appointments were made during an intrasession recess, as the Senate was operating pursuant to a unanimous consent agreement that provided it would meet in pro forma sessions. Moreover, the court held that the President may only fill vacancies that arise or begin during such intersession recesses, as opposed to vacancies that happen to exist during such recesses. The court determined that the vacancies at issue here existed well before the recess. The court held that the appointments were constitutionally “invalid from their inception” and therefore the NLRB lacked a quorum to issue the NLRB order challenged on appeal. The court vacated the NLRB’s order at issue. The President appointed CFPB Director Richard Cordray as a recess appointment on the same day the President appointed the NLRB members. Mr. Cordray’s appointment is the subject of a lawsuit currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
President Obama Re-nominates Richard Cordray for CFPB Director, Nominates Mary Jo White for SEC Chair
On January 24, President Obama announced his re-nomination of current CFPB Director Richard Cordray. Mr. Cordray has led the Bureau since January 2012 when President Obama used his recess appointment authority to install the CFPB director. Absent Senate confirmation, Mr. Cordray’s recess appointment expires at the end of this year. Further, the constitutionality of that appointment may be called into question by a recent federal appellate court decision addressing other recess appointments. Also on January 24, President Obama nominated Mary Jo White for Senate confirmation to serve as Chairman of the SEC. Ms. White is a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, during which time she led high-profile prosecutions of organized crime members and terrorists. Most recently she was in private practice.
Senator Urges Federal Regulators to Sync QRM Rule with CFPB's QM Standard
On January 22, Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) sent a letter to federal regulators responsible for finalizing the Dodd-Frank Act mandated “qualified residential mortgage” (QRM) standard, urging that the final QRM definition mirror the “qualified mortgage” (QM) definition recently promulgated by the CFPB. The QRM rule will define those loans exempt from the Act’s risk retention requirements for mortgage securitizers, a requirement that also will be set by the rule though it cannot be less than the statutory floor of five percent of the credit risk for any asset that is not a QRM. The Act also prohibits the QRM standard from being broader than the QM definition. Senator Corker maintains that, because the QRM rule will exempt loans sold to federal government sponsored enterprises and government agencies, “if the QRM rule is written differently than the QM rule, most financial institutions will only originate loans intended for sale to” those entities and as a result the return of private capital to the secondary market will be limited.