Firm News

The Ohio Division of Financial Institutions circulated proposed rules under the Ohio Small Loan Act (“SLA”) for preliminary feedback on June 2, 2021. The Division requested feedback by June 11,
2021. Read More

On May 11, the U.S. Senate voted 52-47 to approve Senator Chris Van Hollen’s Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to invalidate the rule submitted by the OCC related to “National Banks and Federal Savings Associations as Lenders” (85 Fed. Reg. 6872 (October 30, 2020) (the “True Lender Rule”). Seeour Prior ALERT dated October 30, 2020 for further discussion of the True Lender Rule Read More

Ohio H.B. No. 133 has been passed by the Ohio General Assembly and will now be sent to the Governor. The bill addresses topics ranging from property tax valuation to acquisition and charter of Ohio banks to consumer lending. We have summarized the most relevant items related to financial services below. Read More

On May 11, 2021, the “Small Business Truth in Financing Act” was introduced in the North Carolina House of Representatives. The proposed legislation requires similar commercial financing disclosure requirements as found in the enacted California and New York commercial financing disclosure laws. See our prior ALERTS dated April 8, 2021; Feb. 17, 2021; Dec. 29, 2020; and Sept. 15, 2020. Read More

On May 6th, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) ordered a federally insured state bank to pay a $1.8 million civil penalty after determining that the bank engaged in unfair or deceptive acts or practices (“UDAP”) in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTCA”) in connection with commercial equipment financing and leasing products issued through its wholly owned nonbank subsidiary. Read More

On March 29th, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”) settled a 2020 inquiry regarding a financial technology company’s (“Fintech”) use of the term “bank” or “banking” in the course of its business. The Fintech works with bank partners to provide consumer-oriented banking products. Read More

On April 16, 2021, the North Dakota Governor signed a bill that amends the North Dakota Money Brokers Act to limit the annual interest rate that licensees may charge to 36%. The bill clarifies that all charged fees necessary for the extension of credit incurred at the time of origination are to be included in the 36% finance charge. The bill also adds late payment fee restrictions and additional restrictions that apply to loans in amounts of $2,000 or less. Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has held that sharing specific information regarding a consumer’s debt with a mail vendor is a “communication in connection with the collection of any debt” and that a debt collector could violate the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act’s (“FDCPA”) prohibition on third party communications by engaging in such information sharing. Read More

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has filed a notice of proposed rulemaking to delay the effective date of the new federal debt collection rule (known as Regulation F) under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). Read More

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit that alleged that a retailer violated the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). Gardiner v. Walmart Inc., Case No. 20-cv-04618-JSW (N.D. Cal., filed Mar. 5, 2021). Read More