December 2015

Reacting to reports of investors refusing to purchase loans based on various, often technical, violations of the TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) sent a letter to the CFPB on December 21, 2015 seeking guidance to allay investor concerns.  (The version of the letter released by the MBA does not include the attachment referenced in the letter.)… Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued a final rule containing “technical corrections” to the final TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule that became effective on October 3, 2015.  The corrections are effective December 24, 2015, the date of their publication in the Federal Register.

According to the supplementary information accompanying the corrections, the publication of the TRID rule in the Federal Register “resulted in several unintended deletions of existing regulatory text from Regulation Z and the Official [Regulation Z Commentary] and, in one case, the omission of regulatory language in the [final TRID rule] from the [Code of Federal Regulations].” … Continue Reading

In October 2015, the D.C. federal district court ruled that the plaintiffs’ names should be redacted in all documents filed in a lawsuit against the CFPB initiated by the plaintiffs.  The plaintiffs are a group of businesses and an individual who provide services related to consumer credit counseling and are under investigation by the CFPB. … Continue Reading

In a letter sent last week to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, four U.S. Senators urge the ED “to direct federal student loan servicers, debt collectors, and all other third parties” to delay use of the new robocall authority given by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.  Two Senators are Democrats (Elizabeth Warren and Edward J.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued its December 2015 complaint report which highlights money transfer complaints and complaints from consumers in Georgia and the Atlanta metro area.

General findings include the following:

  • As of December 1, 2015, the CFPB handled approximately 770,100 complaints nationally, including approximately 21,000 complaints in November 2015.  For November 2015, debt collection continued to be the most complained-about financial product or service, representing about 30 percent of complaints submitted. 
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The CFPB announced last week that it has entered into a consent order with an individual who had operated a defunct business that resold consumer leads to settle charges that the business sold leads to debt collectors who used the information to deceive and threaten consumers into paying debts they did not owe. … Continue Reading

The CFPB has announced annual adjustments to two asset-size exemption thresholds.  First, the CFPB is making no change to the asset-size exemption threshold under HMDA/Regulation C which is currently set at $44 million.  Banks, savings associations, and credit unions with assets at or below $44 million as of December 31, 2015 will continue to be exempt from collecting HMDA data in 2016.… Continue Reading

The CFPB’s Deputy Assistant Director for origination recently warned mortgage lenders of the four main examination priorities for 2016—loan originator compensation plans, the ability-to-repay rule, the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures (TRID) rule, and marketing service agreements.

Speaking at the California MBA Legal Issues Conference, Calvin Hagins indicated that CFPB examiners will spend a substantial amount of time evaluating loan compensation schemes at every exam at every entity.… Continue Reading

Earlier this week, the CFPB released  its sixth annual report on college credit card agreements, together with a new toolkit for schools to use when considering potential co-sponsorships of financial accounts, such as prepaid or checking accounts.  The CFPB also announced that it sent warning letters to 17 schools regarding their compliance with the CARD Act requirement to publicly disclose their credit card marketing agreements.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued a bulletin (Compliance Bulletin 2015-07) to provide guidance to creditors, debt buyers and third-party debt collectors about compliance with the CFPA UDAAP prohibition and the FDCPA when conducting in-person debt collection visits, such as visits to a consumer’s workplace or home.

The bulletin highlights the following potential compliance violations that can result from in-person collection visits:

UDAAP. … Continue Reading