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Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices

Practice Overview

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, and prudential bank regulators continue to be aggressive in their approaches to monitoring unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices under federal and state consumer protection laws.

Buckley has extensive experience defending against unfair, deceptive, and abusive claims on behalf of the financial services industry. Our experience includes defending against enforcement actions and lawsuits brought by the CFPB and prudential bank regulators, FTC investigations and lawsuits, state attorneys general matters, and class action litigation. We represent clients on a wide range of matters, including fair and responsible lending and servicing, sales and marketing practices, overdraft protection, deposit reconciliation, payment processing, credit reporting, debt collection, and privacy and data security issues.

Our lawyers advise clients on all consumer financial products and services, including mortgage origination and servicing, short-term consumer loans, automobile and other installment loans, credit, debit and stored value cards, student loan origination and servicing, and retail banking products. We are well-versed in a full array of ancillary products like payday lending and tax refund advances.

Buckley also assists clients on UDAAP matters outside the enforcement context by  helping financial services companies develop compliance programs and policies, conduct risk assessments, evaluate marketing, develop new products, review disclosures, perform mock CFPB examinations, prepare legal analyses of potential violations, and provide training to boards of directors, senior management, and other key personnel.

Representative work in this area includes:

  • Represented Flagstar Bank in the first CFPB enforcement action of its mortgage servicing rules that was based, in part, on allegations of unfair acts and practices and resulted in an administrative consent order settlement for $37.5 million relating to default servicing loss-mitigation practices
     
  • Represented Verizon Wireless in a multistate, multiagency investigation and settlement alleging that it permitted “cramming” by allowing third parties to place unauthorized charges on consumers’ wireless phone bills
     
  • Represented a credit card issuer in the second CFPB enforcement action, issued jointly with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, in which the agencies alleged deceptive marketing and sales practices related to add-on products
     
  • Performed regulatory and transactional due diligences of lenders to advise potential investors and purchasers on the lenders’ compliance with federal and state UDAAP prohibitions
     
  • Represented First National Bank of Omaha in a CFPB enforcement action alleging UDAAP violations relating to credit card add-on products
     
  • Represented Customers Bank in an enforcement action before the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) concerning UDAAP allegations related to financial aid disbursement services for students offered in conjunction with a third party
     
  • Represented bank clients in responding to FDIC inquiries related to UDAAP risk posed by marketplace lender/bank partnership arrangements 
     
  • Represented a credit reporting bureau in a CFPB enforcement action alleging UDAAP violations relating to the marketing of credit scores to consumers
     
  • Represented a regional bank in the first CFPB enforcement action that cited both UDAAP and Regulation DD violations in connection with the bank’s marketing of a free checking product
     
  • Defended financial institutions in class actions alleging violations of state unfair and deceptive practices laws 

Articles

News & Blogs

Webcasts & Speaking Engagements

Press Releases & Announcements

  • BuckleySandler Hosts Eighth Annual Fair Lending Today Conference

    BuckleySandler LLP hosted its eighth annual Fair Lending Today conference in Washington, DC on March 13-14, 2016. The two-day event featured an evening of interactive roundtable discussions on fair lending issues, followed by a full day of seminars. The sessions were led by BuckleySandler attorneys...

    Press Releases
  • Buckley Sandler Hosts Annual Fair Lending Today Conference

    Buckley Sandler LLP hosted its annual Fair Lending Today conference in Washington, DC, March 15-16, 2015. The two-day event featured an evening of interactive roundtable discussions on fair lending issues, followed by a full day of seminars. The roundtables and seminars were led by Buckley Sandler...

    Press Releases

Our Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices Team