Firm News

As part of its ongoing battle against “junk fees” and following its request for comment on credit card late payment fees and the fee safe harbor, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) recently issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the Regulation Z credit card penalty fee safe harbor as it applies to credit card late fees from its current rate of $30 for the first violation and $41 thereafter to the lesser of $8 or 25% of the minimum payment. See our ALERT of June 24, 2022. The proposed changes to Regulation Z penalty fees are limited to late fees at this time; however, the CFPB is seeking comments on whether the proposed amendments should apply to other fees as well. Read More

On February 10, the Illinois Senate introduced Senate Bill 2234, the Small Business Truth in Lending Act. S.B. 2234 would join similar laws in California and New York in broadly requiring commercial financing to provide consumer Truth-in-Lending-like disclosures for commercial financing under $2.5 million. See our prior ALERTS dated February 10, 2023 (New York) and June 15, 2022 (California). Read More

On February 27, 2023, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America to determine the constitutionality of the CFPB’s funding structure. The question before the Supreme Court has two parts; whether the court of appeals erred (i) in holding that the statute providing funding to the CFPB, 12 U.S.C. 5497, violates the Appropriations Clause, U.S. Const. Art. I, § 9, Cl. 7, and (ii) in vacating a regulation promulgated at a time when the CFPB was receiving such funding. Read More

On February 17, the Federal Trade Commission announced a new Office of Technology to keep pace with technological developments in the digital marketplace. The Office of Technology will support the FTC’s law enforcement and policy work and will have dedicated staff and resources. Read More

The Colorado Senate Health and Human Services Committee will consider Senate Bill 93, a new bill targeted at “medical debt.” S.B. 93 would define “medical debt” as “debt, other than a healthcare loan, arising directly from the receipt of health-care services or of medical products or devices.” S.B. 93 would limit the interest rate on medical debt, impose certain requirements on repayment plans
and make violations of Colorado’s billing laws a deceptive trade practice. Read More

On February 1, the New York Department of Financial Services issued final regulations implementing the Commercial Finance Disclosure Law (“CFDL”). The regulations apply to multiple types of commercial financing products and require providers to deliver disclosures when “extending a specific offer” for commercial financing in amounts under $2.5 million to a “recipient,” defined as a person who applies for commercial financing and is made a specific offer of commercial financing by a provider. This final regulation is the third version of the regulation issued. Read More

In Laccinole v. Gulf Coast Collection Bureau, Inc., No. CV 22-223-JJM-LDA, 2023 WL 157719 (D.R.I. Jan. 11, 2023), the court partially denied defendant Gulf Coast Collection Bureau’s (“Gulf Coast”) motion to dismiss because of an outstanding issue whether the defendant could be criminally liable for failing to register as a debt collector under Rhode Island law. Read More

On February 1, 2023, the Department of Justice filed, on behalf of the FTC, a first-of-its-kind proposed order against GoodRx for violations of the FTC’s Health Breach Notification Rule (“Rule”). The Rule requires vendors of personal health records and related entities to notify consumers following a breach involving unsecured information. In addition, if a service provider to one of these entities has a breach, it must notify the entity, which in turn must notify consumers. Read More

On February 7, 2023, the CFPB released an advisory opinion regarding the applicability of Section 8 of RESPA. Through its advisory opinion, the CPFB addressed mortgage comparison websites who appear to be objectively directing consumers to lenders when the websites are actually steering customers to specific lenders on the basis of fees paid for promotion. Director Chopra stated that “we are working to ensure that online platforms are not manipulating their search results in order to coerce kickbacks from lenders.” Read More

On February 3, 2023, the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) voted to adopt and approve their most recent rulemaking package involving the California Privacy Rights Act draft regulations. The Rulemaking package includes the final regulations redline to prior draft versions of the regulations, a final statement of reasons and appendices to the final statement of reasons. Read More