On May 8, 2013, the CFPB issued a report highlighting the role that student debt increasingly plays in affecting both consumers and the broader economy.  Pursuant to a February 2013 Notice and Request for Information, the CFPB received nearly 28,000 comments concerning ways to provide affordable private student loan repayment options.  From the comments it gathered to produce the study, the CFPB determined that the burden of student debt has ripple effects throughout the broader economy that warrant the attention of policymakers. [Read more →]

On March 14, 2013, the CFPB announced a proposed rule to supervise nonbank student loan servicers.  Under the proposed rule, the CFPB would have supervisory authority for loan servicers with more than one million accounts – a move that would bring the seven largest nonbank student loan servicers within the scope of the CFPB’s authority.  Larger banks’ student loan servicing operations are already under CFPB supervision. [Read more →]

Troutman Sanders LLP in collaboration with Credit and Collection News® Presents: ”Understanding the CFPB and State Attorneys General Regulatory Issues Relating to Debt Collections”.  

Special guest Kent Markus, Head of Enforcement for the CFPB, will be interviewed live by the Troutman Sanders CFPB Team. In addition, Kent Markus and Troutman Sanders Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Team members Aurora Cassirer, Mark Shurtleff, and Ashley L. Taylor Jr., will discuss the ins and outs of the CFPB enforcements and audits. [Read more →]

On February 5, 2013, United States Senator Jerry Moran, a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, reintroduced legislation to reform the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  The Responsible Consumer Financial Protection Regulations Act of 2013, (S. 205), would replace the single CFPB Director with a Senate-confirmed five-person commission – similar to the leadership structure of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trade Commission (CFTC) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  The new regulation also would subject the CFPB to the regular appropriations process like most federal agencies while also establishing a safety and soundness check.  [Read more →]

On Monday, February 4, 2013, David N. Anthony, a partner at Troutman Sanders, was quoted by Law 360 about the recent D.C. Circuit ruling in Noel Canning v. National Labor Relations Board.  While the White House has stated that the case does not apply to the CFPB, and that it will continue business as usual, Mr. Anthony noted that the conflicting opinions will “create this environment of uncertainty that is going to last for a while.”

On January 25, 2013, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision that could invalidate many of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) regulations and supervisory activities over the past year. While the decision may be an important milestone for the Bureau, it will not vitiate many important CFPB powers and is likely not the final word on the issue. The court, in Noel Canning, a division of the Noel Corporation v. NLRB, found that President Obama’s recess appointments of three National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) members were unconstitutional because they occurred while the U.S. Senate was holding so-called “pro forma” sessions – thereby creating a circuit split with the Eleventh, Ninth and Seventh Circuits. [Read more →]

On January 22, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued the last rule in a set of mortgage regulations issued earlier this month.  The final loan originator compensation rule (Rule) amends Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act.  At its core, the Rule prohibits various pay incentives for loan originators, which, the CFPB believes, are designed to steer borrowers into risky loans. The Rule also imposes a first-ever unified set of heightened screening and qualification standards for loan originators regardless of whether they work for a bank, thrift, mortgage brokerage or nonprofit organization. [Read more →]

On January 17, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a rule creating stringent requirements for servicers imposing force-placed insurance on homeowners. A summary of the rule from the CFPB may be found here. [Read more →]

On December 6, 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it and the Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed to formally coordinate efforts related to enforcing fair lending laws. The CFPB and DOJ released a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that outlines processes for sharing information, conducting joint investigations, and passing referrals and notifications between the two agencies. This coordination will promote the tandem use of CFPB’s authority to bring public enforcement actions against any person subject to CFPB supervisory or enforcement authority for Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) violations, with DOJ’s authority to bring federal lawsuits to enforce the ECOA. ^[1] [Read more →]

On October 31, 2012, the CFPB released its first report highlighting its supervisory activity between July 2011 and September 30, 2012. Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the CFPB is authorized to supervise depository institutions with over $10 billion in assets, non-depository financial institutions and “larger participants” in the credit reporting and debt collection markets. Given Director Cordray’s public statements expressing a preference for the CFPB’s exercise of its supervisory authority as the primary means through which the Bureau will compel compliance with federal consumer protection law, the Supervisory Highlights (“Highlights” or “report”) provide covered entities with a useful guide for understanding the CFPB’s supervisory expectations and for developing compliance management systems to comply with federal consumer protection law. [Read more →]