Consumer Finance

"TCPA relief for Covid-19 communications could extend to financial institutions" by Ali M. Abugheida and Geoffrey L. Warner (Bloomberg Law)

Financial institutions face unprecedented and rapidly evolving challenges in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the need to communicate quickly and efficiently with customers in the face of government-issued stay-at-home orders. But the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, with its steep...

Ali M. Abugheida, Geoffrey L. Warner

"Ruling on anti-hacking law may guide fair lending tests" by Jeffrey P. Naimon, H Joshua Kotin, and Frida Alim (Law360)

Regulators, consumer groups, academics and private litigants are grappling with the fair lending implications of the credit models powering the explosive growth in online lending by banks and financial technology firms. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in late March concluded...

Jeffrey P. Naimon, H Joshua Kotin, Frida Alim

"Financial regulators’ dilemma: Administrative and regulatory hurdles to innovation" by Jeremiah S. Buckley and Sasha Leonhardt (George Washington University Law School: Business & Finance Law Review)

Developments in financial technology hold great promise to enhance the quality, delivery, and reach of consumer financial services. However, many of the laws dictating the operations of financial regulators are more than 50 years old, and in drafting these laws Congress understandably did not...

Jeremiah S. Buckley, Sasha Leonhardt

"Preparing for private right of action under Calif. privacy law" by Amanda R. Lawrence and Michael A. Rome (Law360)

The California Consumer Privacy Act went into effect at the beginning of this year, and while the California attorney general will not begin enforcing it until July, the private right of action that the CCPA created is available to consumers now. The CCPA expressly provides for a private right of...

Amanda R. Lawrence, Michael A. Rome

Special Alert: CARES Act places significant burdens on servicers of consumer debt but provides some relief to depositories

President Trump late last week signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that attempts to soften the negative economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on consumers, including by suspending payments for certain student loan borrowers and enabling mortgage loan borrowers to...

Special Alert: Fed’s new facilities offer hundreds of billions of dollars to businesses and issuers of credit for consumer and business debt

On March 23, the Federal Reserve announced that it is establishing and expanding a number of facilities to provide powerful support for the flow of credit to large U.S. employers and other businesses and families in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The Fed’s facilities and related actions are...

Special Alert: Trailer bill would enact California Consumer Financial Protection Law

A trailer bill accompanying the governor’s proposed 2020-2021 state budget would expand the Department of Business Oversight’s (DBO) authority and enact the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (Law). Specifically, the provisions outlined in the proposed Law would revamp and rename the...

"Dorian update: How state laws protect servicemembers" by Jeffrey P. Naimon, Sasha Leonhardt, and Jessica M. Shannon (Law360)

Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas and southeastern United States in late August and early September, and the governors of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Puerto Rico authorized the activation of state National Guard forces for response efforts. In addition, the Rhode...

Jeffrey P. Naimon, Sasha Leonhardt, Jessica M. Shannon

"Reducing the regulatory risk of merchant cash advances and factoring" by Clinton R. Rockwell, Moorari K. Shah, and Lauren Frank (Law360)

A growing number of courts and regulators have reached different conclusions on whether factoring and merchant cash advances constitute loans subject to state lender licensing and usury regulations, leaving many factoring companies and their clients without legal certainty about the nature of the...

Clinton R. Rockwell, Moorari K. Shah, Lauren Frank

"What to expect from increased FTC-state AG collaboration" by Michelle L. Rogers and Katherine L. Halliday (Law360)

In prepared remarks at the winter meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General on March 5, 2019, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons advocated for increased collaboration with state attorneys general and noted that such collaboration is critical to the FTC’s mission. His...

Michelle L. Rogers, Katherine L. Halliday

"Breaking down (language) barriers: A practical approach to LEP borrowers" by Jessica L. Pollet and Susanna K. Sedrak (Westlaw Journal)

In roughly 5.3 million households in the United States, the head of the house doesn’t speak English as the primary language or has limited ability to understand it.1 But like most individuals seeking full participation in the U.S. economy, those with limited English proficiency need access to...

Jessica L. Pollet, Susanna K. Sedrak

"FTC has big agenda for 2019. How should companies prepare?" by Michelle L. Rogers and Katherine L. Halliday (Bloomberg Law)

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons recently previewed an aggressive and expansive consumer protection agenda for 2019, invoking the commission’s broad powers to pursue unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and adding “fraudulent” to the types of conduct he expects to police. Among the...

Michelle L. Rogers, Katherine L. Halliday

"Takeaways from military member complaints at CFPB" by Jeffrey P. Naimon, Sasha Leonhardt, and Christina R. Smith (Law360)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ’s Office of Servicemember Affairs recently released a report highlighting issues facing military consumers based on complaints submitted by service members, veterans and their families. This report identifies categories and trends among the approximately 48...

Jeffrey P. Naimon, Sasha Leonhardt, Christina R. Smith

"The great data breach standing circuit split" by Amanda R. Lawrence and Michael A. Rome (Law360)

Data breaches are back in the news in a big way. Over the past several weeks alone, prominent hotel chains, online platforms and retailers announced significant data breaches. Unsurprisingly, in the aftermath of these disclosures, consumers filed class actions alleging that the data breaches...

Amanda R. Lawrence, Michael A. Rome

"Finding the purpose in bureau civil investigative demands" by Aaron C. Mahler (Bloomberg BNA)

“Why me?” It’s a common refrain whenever something bad happens. It’s also one of the first questions companies ask when finding themselves on the receiving end of a civil investigative demand from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The logical place to look should be the notification of...

Aaron C. Mahler

"FTC v. D-Link Systems and the internet of things" by Elizabeth E. McGinn, John B. Williams, and Christopher M. Walczyszyn (Westlaw)

As businesses expand the availability of internet-connected devices, Buckley Sandler LLP attorneys Elizabeth McGinn, John Williams and Christopher Walczyszyn address the Federal Trade Commission’s role in regulating and enforcing “internet of things” device security to protect consumers’ data...

Elizabeth E. McGinn, John B. Williams, III, Christopher M. Walczyszyn

"Hurricane Florence: How state laws protect service members" by Jeffrey P. Naimon, Sasha Leonhardt, and Jessica M. Shannon (Law360)

As the southeastern United States braces for Hurricane Florence, the governors of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia have authorized their state National Guard for response efforts, and neighboring governors in Maryland and West Virginia have placed their National Guard members on notice...

Jeffrey P. Naimon, Sasha Leonhardt, Jessica M. Shannon

C-Suite Financial Services Review: Enforcement Trends - The States Step Up

The new leadership at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has explicitly stated that it expects to pursue fewer enforcement actions than it has in the past. While the anticipated reduction in CFPB enforcement activity may cause some companies to feel a sense of relief, there may be less cause...

"The role of State AGs in solving student loan crisis" by Sasha Leonhardt and Dana Walsh Kumar (Law360)

State attorneys general are the chief legal officers of their state; state attorneys general are the chief law enforcement officers of their state; and state attorneys general must protect their citizens and vigorously enforce their state’s consumer protection statutes. As broad as these powers and...

Sasha Leonhardt, Dana Walsh Kumar

"Is the CFPB bound by its non-binding guidance? The implications of the PHH due process decision for TRID and other CFPB rules" by Brandy A. Hood and Steven R. vonBerg

Predictability and certainty are crucial components of the consumer finance market. Consumers crave it, as do industry participants. A common understanding of legal requirements promotes uniformity in the application of consumer protections and allows lenders, servicers, systems providers,...