A coalition of 14 state Attorneys General and the D.C. Attorney General have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Williams v. Big Picture Loans in which a tribal lender and its tribal service provider have appealed from the district court’s denial of their motion to dismiss the complaint filed by consumers who alleged that the interest rate charged by the lender violated Virginia law.… Continue Reading

A group of Democratic senators (joined by two independent Senators) has sent a letter to Leandra English and Mick Mulvaney urging them to abandon any efforts by the CFPB to reconsider its final payday/auto title/high-rate installment loan rule (Payday Rule).

In January 2018, the CFPB announced that it intends to engage in a rulemaking process to reconsider the Payday Rule pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act. … Continue Reading

The State of Oklahoma has filed an amicus brief in support of the motion to dismiss filed by four online tribal lenders sued by the CFPB for alleged Consumer Financial Protection Act and Truth in Lending Act violations.  The CFPB’s lawsuit was originally filed in an Illinois federal district court and subsequently transferred to federal district court in Kansas.… Continue Reading

In a new lawsuit filed in an Illinois federal district court, the CFPB alleges that four online tribal lenders engaged in unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act by attempting to collect loans that were purportedly void or uncollectible in whole or in part under state law.… Continue Reading

Briefing has now been completed in CFPB v. Great Plains Lending, LLC, et al., the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in which three tribally-affiliated payday lenders are challenging the CFPB’s authority to issue civil investigative demands (CIDs) to entities that are arms of sovereign tribes.… Continue Reading

Last Friday, the CFPB replied to the arguments made by three tribally-affiliated payday lenders in opposition to the CFPB’s petition in California federal court seeking to enforce the civil investigative demands (CIDs) issued by the CFPB to the lenders.  A hearing on the petition was scheduled for yesterday.   

The lenders argued that, as arms of sovereign tribes, they are not subject to the CFPB’s investigative authority. … Continue Reading

We recently reported that the CFPB has filed a petition in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California seeking to enforce the civil investigative demands (CIDs) it issued in June 2012 to three tribally-affiliated payday lenders.  A hearing on the petition has been scheduled for April 28.

In their joint memorandum of law filed in opposition to the CFPB’s petition, the lenders argue that, as arms of sovereign tribes, they are not subject to the CFPB’s investigative authority. … Continue Reading

The CFPB recently filed a petition in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California seeking to enforce the civil investigative demands (CIDs) it issued in June 2012 to three tribally-affiliated payday lenders.  A hearing on the petition has been scheduled for April 28.

In September 2013, the CFPB issued an order denying the lenders’ petition requesting that the CFPB set aside the CIDs. … Continue Reading

As industry and consumers await the results of the CFPB’s arbitration study, the FTC became the latest federal agency to weigh in on consumer arbitration issues.  Recently, at the invitation of the Seventh Circuit, the FTC filed an amicus brief supporting a class action lawsuit brought by consumers challenging a tribal payday lender’s practice of requiring them to submit to arbitration at a Native American reservation. … Continue Reading

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