During the week of January 6, the CFPB released a “second” Winter 2024 Supervisory Highlights, focused on the agency’s most recent findings in deposits, small dollar lending, buy now, pay later (BNPL), paycheck advance products, and furnishing. Some key takeaways include:Continue Reading CFPB Publishes Supervisory Highlights Focused on Deposits, Small-Dollar Lending, BNPL, and Paycheck Advance Products
On January 3, 2025, the CFPB announced a reboot of its no-action letter and compliance assistance sandbox policy, aimed at promoting consumer-beneficial innovation in financial services. The new policies are designed to foster competition and transparency while addressing unmet consumer needs.Continue Reading CFPB Updates No-Action Letter and Compliance Assistance Sandbox Policies to Spur Innovation
On January 8, the CFPB announced its intent to pursue rulemaking that would allow the agency to oversee nonbank personal loan lender. The announcement came in response to a petition filed in September 2022 by the Consumer Bankers Association and the Center for Responsible Lending, which called on the CFPB to engage in rulemaking under section 1024(a)(2) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act to subject certain “larger participants” in the nonbank personal loan market to the CFPB’s supervisory authority.Continue Reading CFPB Announces Plans to Regulate Nonbank Personal Loan Providers
On January 7, 2025, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against a nationwide consumer reporting agency for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The lawsuit claims the company’s investigation of consumer disputes was inadequate, specifically criticizing their intake, processing, investigation, and customer notification processes. The lawsuit also alleges the company reinserted inaccurate information on credit reports, which the agency alleges harmed consumers’ access to credit, employment, and housing. In addition to FCRA, the Bureau alleges that the company’s faulty intake procedures and unlawful processes regarding consumer reports violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s (CFPA) prohibition on unfair acts or practices.Continue Reading CFPB Alleges Credit Reporting Agency Conducted Sham Investigations of Errors
On December 19, the U.S. Department of Treasury released a report summarizing key findings from its 2024 Request for Information (RFI) on the uses, opportunities, and risks of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in financial services. The report notes the increasing prevalence of AI, including generative AI, and explores the opportunities and challenges associated with its use.Continue Reading Treasury Highlights AI’s Potential and Risks in Financial Services
On December 16, the CFPB released a special edition of its Supervisory Highlights, which detailed findings from the Bureau’s recent examinations of student loan markets. The report identifies a range of violations related to student loan refinancing, private lending and servicing, debt collection, and federal loan servicing.Continue Reading CFPB Report Highlights Widespread Violations in Student Loan Sector
On December 17, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule applying standard mortgage protections to Residential Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans. The rule amends Regulation Z to clarify that voluntary tax assessments and liens, like PACE financing, are not excluded under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and recognizes PACE financing as meeting the definition of “credit” under TILA and Regulation Z. It also introduces ability-to-repay requirements for residential PACE loans. The rule is set to take effect on March 1, 2026.Continue Reading New CFPB Rule Applies Mortgage Standards to Residential PACE Financing
Effective November 23, 2024, the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending (the “DSML”) adopted new rules affecting mortgage loan companies, mortgage bankers, individual residential mortgage loan originators, and mortgage servicers.Continue Reading Texas Passes Law Expanding Mortgage Borrower Protections
On December 6, the CFPB issued an order establishing supervisory authority over a major tech company. While the company is already subject to CFPB’s enforcement authority, the Bureau has determined that the company meets the legal requirements for supervisory oversight. This marks only the second occasion where the CFPB has publicly released a supervisory designation order in a contested matter. Continue Reading CFPB Issues Risk-Based Supervision Order Over Major Tech Company
On December 3, the CFPB announced a proposed rule to enhance oversight of data brokers that handle consumers’ sensitive personal and financial information. The proposed rule would amend Regulation V, which implements the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), to require data brokers to comply with credit bureau-style regulations under FCRA if they sell income data or certain other financial information on consumers, regardless of its end use.Continue Reading CFPB Takes Aim at Data Brokers in Proposed Rule Amending FCRA
On November 21, the CFPB announced the arrival of its finalized larger participant rule (the “Rule”) regulating nonbank companies offering digital funds transfer and payment wallet applications to consumers.Continue Reading New CFPB Larger Participant Rule Boosts Oversight of Major Digital Payment Providers