September 2013

On September 26, the CFPB issued a 10-page order denying a petition filed jointly by three tribal payday lenders that asked the CFPB to set aside the civil investigative demands (CIDs) the lenders received from the CFPB.  The order describes the lenders as “limited liability companies organized and chartered under the laws of federally recognized Indian tribes,” with each lender “created by resolution of its respective tribe in or about 2011” and “wholly owned by that tribe.” … Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued an interim final rule with a request for public comment on its new rules of practice for the issuance of temporary cease-and-desist orders (“Temporary C&Ds”). The Bureau is authorized to issue Temporary C&Ds under Section 1053(c) of the Dodd-Frank legislation. That provision, similar in many respects to the comparable provision in the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, authorizes a Temporary C&D as an adjunct to a cease-and-desist proceeding (the “case in chief”) brought under Section 1053(b) against a covered person or a service provider.… Continue Reading

On September 24, 2013, the CFPB joined the CFTC, the SEC, the FTC, the NCUA, and the prudential bank regulatory agencies (the Federal Reserve, the OCC, and the FDIC) in the issuance of an Interagency Guidance on Privacy Laws and Reporting Financial Abuse of Older Adults.  The release exempts from the strictures of the financial privacy provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) the reporting of suspected financial abuse of the elderly to appropriate state, local, and federal agencies.… Continue Reading

The CFPB announced yesterday the release of both the 2012 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data and a new web-based tool to access that data. In both Director Cordray’s remarks and the blog post, the CFPB appeared to indicate that HMDA data may be used to identify institutions that may be discriminating against protected classes of borrowers.… Continue Reading

Amid fanfare about its commitment to the protection of the military, the CFPB has released new guidelines to assist its examiners regarding payday and title loans to military servicemembers and their dependents. “Protecting servicemembers is a priority for the CFPB,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “We will use the authority Congress gave us to enforce the Military Lending Act and to safeguard our men and women in uniform from illegal payday loans.”… Continue Reading

Yesterday the CFPB announced that it would hold a field hearing on credit cards in Chicago on October 2, 2013. The hearing will be held at the Harold Washington Library, located at 400 South State Street, and will commence at 11:00 a.m. CFPB Director Cordray plans to make an appearance, and testimony will be taken from consumer groups, industry representatives, and members of the public.… Continue Reading

As expected in light of Director Cordray’s comments last week, on Friday, the CFPB finalized several amendments and clarifications to the mortgage rules, proposed on June 24, 2013 (see our previous Legal Alert outlining the amendments as proposed).  The amendments include revisions to the CFPB’s mortgage servicing rules, loan originator compensation rules, and ability-to-repay rules. … Continue Reading

Although the House Financial Service Committee’s hearing last Thursday was entitled
“The Semi-Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” the contents of the report received little mention from committee members.  Instead, committee members questioned Director Cordray, the sole hearing witness, on a wide range of topics.  Highlights include the following:

  • The CFPB’s data collection efforts continued to be a major focus of questions from Republican committee members. 
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Comments made by Director Cordray in an interview with the Washington Post indicate that the CFPB will be taking an aggressive approach to rulemaking in the coming months. 

Director Cordray indicated that prepaid cards are “a real front-burner issue for us” and that the CFPB is “moving forward to write rules to make sure they are protected under the [Electronic Fund Transfer Act.]”… Continue Reading

While Director Cordray mostly recycled comments he has previously made about the CFPB’s mortgage rules in his remarks today to the American Mortgage Conference, he did offer some newsworthy information.  

First, Director Cordray indicated that “any day now” the CFPB expects to finalize the additional changes to its servicing, ability to repay and loan originator compensation rules that were proposed in June.  … Continue Reading