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  • Nevada authorizes a regulatory sandbox program

    State Issues

    On June 13, the Nevada governor approved SB 161, which requires the Director of the Department of Business and Industry to establish and administer the “Regulatory Experimentation Program for Product Innovation.” If the Director approves an applicant to participate in the Program, the participant’s product or service will be generally exempt from certain statutory and regulatory requirements related to financial products or services. Under the legislation, any consumer of the product or service must be a resident of Nevada and not more than 5,000 consumers may be provided the product or service during the period of testing, unless the Director approves up to 7,500 consumers. Participants must make certain disclosures to consumers, including, if applicable, that the participant does not hold a license to provide a product or service outside of the program and method of submitting a complaint to the Director. The Director may also require additional disclosures.  The legislation also authorizes the Director to establish participant-reporting requirements by regulation and generally limits participation in the program to 2 years, although a participant may seek an extension of this period to apply for any license or other authorization otherwise required for the product or service. The legislation is effective on June 13 for the purpose of adopting any regulations and performing any other preparatory administrative tasks that are necessary to carry out the provisions of the bill, and on January 1, 2020, for all other purposes.

    State Issues State Regulators State Legislation Regulatory Sandbox Fintech

  • Hawaii extends relief to full-time National Guard; adds vehicle lease terminations

    State Issues

    On June 7, the Hawaii governor signed HB 991, which extends the state’s military civil relief protections to persons serving on full time National Guard duty under Section 101(19) of Title 32 of the U.S. Code. Additionally, the bill amends other provisions of the state’s military civil relief law to align with the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, including (i) extending the duration of a stay of any action from 60 days to 90 days after a period of military service ends, and (ii) extending the termination of lease provisions to cover motor vehicle leases, in addition to residential leases. The bill became effective on June 7.  

    State Issues State Legislation Military Lending SCRA

  • 9th Circuit: FTC does not need to show irreparable harm to get injunctive relief

    Courts

    On June 17, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held that no showing of irreparable harm is required for the FTC to obtain injunctive relief when the relief is sought in conjunction with a statutory enforcement action where the applicable statute authorizes such relief. According to the opinion, the FTC brought an action against an entity and related individuals (collectively, “defendants”) operating a mortgage loan modification scheme for allegedly violating the FTC Act and Regulation O by making false promises to consumers for services designed to prevent foreclosures or reduce interest rates or monthly mortgage payments. (Previously covered by InfoBytes here.) The FTC brought the action under the second proviso of Section 13(b) of the FTC Act, which allows the agency to pursue injunctive relief without initiating administrative action. The district court granted the motion for preliminary injunction without requiring the FTC to make a showing of irreparable harm.

    On appeal, the 9th Circuit rejected the defendants’ argument that the FTC was still required to demonstrate the likelihood of irreparable harm in a Section 13(b) action. The appellate court noted that the FTC’s position is supported by the court’s precedent, quoting “‘[w]here an injunction is authorized by statute, and the statutory conditions are satisfied . . ., the agency to whom the enforcement of the right has been entrusted is not required to show irreparable injury.’” The appellate court concluded that its precedent is not irreconcilable with the 2008 Supreme Court decision in Winter v. Natural Resource Defense Council, Inc, noting that Winter did not address injunctive relief in the context of statutory enforcement. Therefore, the appellate court concluded that although irreparable harm is required to obtain injunctive relief in an ordinary case, the district court did not error in granting injunctive relief, without the showing of irreparable harm, in conjunction with a statutory enforcement action.  

     

    Courts Appellate FTC FTC Act Preliminary Injunction Ninth Circuit

  • DOJ announces redlining settlement with Indiana bank

    Federal Issues

    On June 13, the DOJ announced a settlement with an Indiana bank resolving allegations the bank engaged in unlawful “redlining” in Indianapolis by intentionally avoiding predominantly African-American neighborhoods in violation of the Fair Housing Act and ECOA. In the complaint, the DOJ alleges that from 2011 to 2017, among other things, the bank (i) excluded Marion County in Indianapolis and its “50 majority-Black census tracts” from its Community Reinvestment Act assessment area; (ii) did not have any branch locations in majority-Black areas of the county; (iii) did not market in the majority-Black areas of the country; and (iv) had a residential mortgage lending policy that allegedly showed preference to the location of borrowers, not the creditworthiness. Under the settlement agreement, which is subject to court approval, the bank will, among other things, expand its business services and lending to the predominantly African-American neighborhoods in Indianapolis and will invest at least $1.12 million in a special loan subsidy fund to be used to increase credit opportunities in the specified neighborhoods. Additionally, the bank will designate a full-time Director of Community Lending and Development to oversee the continued development of the bank’s lending in the specified areas.

     

    Federal Issues DOJ Fair Lending Redlining Fair Housing Act ECOA CRA

  • FDIC encourages release for Arkansas and South Dakota borrowers

    Federal Issues

    On June 17, the FDIC issued Financial Institution Letters FIL-32-2019 and FIL-33-2019 to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and help facilitate recovery in areas of Arkansas and South Dakota affected by severe weather. FIL-32-2019 covers severe storms and flooding caused significant property damage in areas of Arkansas from May 21 through the present and FIL-33-2019 covers severe winter storm, snowstorm, and flooding caused significant property damage in areas of South Dakota from March 13 through April 26.

    The FDIC is encouraging institutions to consider, among other things, extending repayment terms and restructuring existing loans to borrowers affected by the severe weather. Additionally, the FDIC notes that institutions may receive favorable Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) consideration for community development loans, investments, and services in support of disaster recovery.

    Find continuing InfoBytes coverage on disaster relief guidance here.

    Federal Issues FDIC Disaster Relief CRA Consumer Finance

  • HUD: DACA recipients not eligible for FHA loans

    Federal Issues

    On June 11, Len Wolfson, the Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations at HUD sent a letter to Representative Pete Aguilar (D-CA) specifying that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are not eligible for FHA loans. According to the letter, HUD has not implemented any new policies changes during the current Administration with respect to FHA eligibility requirements for DACA recipients. Wolfson asserts that, “Since at least October 2003, FHA has maintained published policy that non-U.S. citizens without lawful residency ‘are not eligible for FHA-insured loans,’” and determination of immigration status is not the responsibility of HUD. Therefore, Wolfson argues, “because DACA does not confer lawful status, DACA recipients remain ineligible for FHA loans.”   

    Federal Issues Agency Rule-Making & Guidance HUD FHA U.S. House

  • Agencies finalize streamlined small-institution reporting

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On June 17, the FDIC, the OCC, and Federal Reserve issued the final rule to streamline regulatory reporting for qualifying small institutions to implement Section 205 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. The agencies adopted the final rule as proposed in November 2018 (covered by InfoBytes here). The final rule permits depository institutions with less than $5 billion in assets—previously set at $1 billion—that do not engage in certain complex or international activities to file the FFIEC 051 Call Report, the most streamlined version of the Call Reports. Additionally, the rule reduces the existing reportable data items in the FFIEC 051 Call Report by approximately 37 percent for the first and third calendar quarters. The rule also includes similar provisions for uninsured institutions with less than $5 billion in total consolidated assets that are supervised by the Federal Reserve and the OCC. The rule notes that the agencies are also committed to “exploring further burden reduction and are actively evaluating further revisions to the FFIEC 051 Call Report, consistent with guiding principles developed by the FFIEC.” The rule will take effect 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance OCC FDIC Federal Register Federal Reserve Call Report EGRRCPA

  • Texas prohibits collection actions and arbitrations on time-barred debt

    State Issues

    On June 14, the Texas governor signed HB 996, which prohibits debt buyers from commencing an action against or initiating arbitration with a consumer for the purpose of collecting a consumer debt after the statute of limitations (SOL) has expired. The bill defines “debt buyer” as “a person who purchases or otherwise acquires a consumer debt from a creditor or other subsequent owner of the consumer debt, regardless of whether the person collects the consumer debt, hires a third party to collect the consumer debt, or hires an attorney to pursue collection litigation in connection with the consumer debt.” Additionally, the bill (i) prevents a collection action on a debt that is passed the SOL from being revised by any activity on the debt, including payment; and (ii) requires a debt buyer to provide a specific written notice in the initial collection communication, including a statement that the debt is time-barred and the debt collector would not sue the consumer for it. The bill is effective September 1.

    State Issues State Legislation Debt Collection Debt Buyer Statute of Limitations Time-Barred Debt

  • Nevada expands prohibition on credit discrimination

    State Issues

    On June 1, the Nevada governor signed SB 311, which expands the state’s prohibition on discrimination against a person who seeks to obtain credit to include race, color, creed, religion, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression, in addition to the existing law’s current protection of sex or marital status. Additionally, the bill permits an applicant who has no credit history and was/is married to request that the creditor deem the applicant’s credit history to be identical to that of the applicant’s spouse during the marriage; and violation of this provision is deemed to be “discrimination based on marital status.” Lastly, the bill requires the Nevada Commissioner of Financial Institutions to study the nature and extent of any discrimination based on the bill’s protected classes and requires the Division to assist with programs designed to prevent or eliminate such discrimination. The bill is effective October 1.

     

    State Issues State Legislation Underwriting Fair Lending

  • Texas approves temporary authority to act as a registered mortgage loan originator

    State Issues

    On June 10, the Texas governor signed SB 2330, which provides, among other things, for a federally-registered mortgage loan originator (MLO) who does not hold a state license to have temporary authority to act as a state-licensed MLO for a period not to exceed 120 days while their state MLO license application is pending. Subject to certain conditions, a federally-registered MLO who becomes employed by an entity that is licensed or registered in Texas for mortgage loan origination may temporarily act as a state-licensed  MLO in the state before their license is issued for up to 120 days if (i) the individual was registered in the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry as a loan originator within one year of the state application; or (ii) is licensed by another state or governmental jurisdiction to engage in mortgage loan origination. The bill is effective on November 24.

     

    State Issues Mortgage Licensing Licensing Mortgages State Legislation NMLS

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