The Federal Trade Commission, the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) and Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN) recently announced the results of a review of selected websites and apps that showed a large percentage of the websites and mobile apps examined may use socalled “dark patterns”, understood as digital design techniques that may manipulate consumers into buying products or services or giving up their privacy… Read More
Firm News
Supreme Court Overrules Chevron Sends the SEC to Court and Calibrates the APA Clock
In a term that ran down to the wire, the Supreme Court announced two decisions last week and another decision this week that rebuke regulators and will be felt throughout the financial services industry. In a joint opinion in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce, the Court eliminated Chevron deference, bringing an end to courts’ “mechanical application” of “binding deference to agency interpretation” of ambiguous law… Read More
Florida Amends Consumer Finance Act Increasing Maximum Interest Rates
On June 28, 2024, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed H.B. 1347, which amends the Consumer Finance Act to allow licensedb lenders to charge a greater rate of interest on consumer loans, among other things. These amendments come after Governor DeSantis vetoed a similar bill this time last year. See our ALERTS of June 27, 2023 and May 26, 2023… Read More
CFPB Issues Compliance Dates for Small Business Data Lending Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an interim final rule to extend compliance deadlines for the small business data lending rule. After the CFPB issued the small business data lending rule on March 30, 2023, a federal court in Texas stayed the rule pending the Supreme Court’s decision in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America (CFPB v. CFSA)… Read More
Are You Adequately Disclosing Or Missing the Mark
First there was Amazon’s Prime, now the Adobe “annual paid monthly” subscription plan. The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) once again is targeting alleged burial of material terms, hidden charges and complicated cancellation procedures. See Complaint, U.S. v. Adobe Inc., No. 5:24-cv-03630 (N.D. Cal. filed June 17, 2024)… Read More
Fifth Circuit Orders Return In Case Challenging Late Fee Rule Again
Once again, the Fifth Circuit decided that the case challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB”) credit card late fee rule is to stay in Texas. This writ of mandamus is the latest update in the “byzantine” procedural history of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s case against the CFPB… Read More
CFPB Announces Effective Date for Payment Provisions of Payday Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that the payment provisions of the “Payday Loan Rule” (Rule) will go into effect March 30, 2025 based on the Supreme Court entering its judgement in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America on June 17, 2024… Read More
Preliminary Injunction in CO DIDMCA Case Granted
Yesterday the Colorado District Court granted the motion for a preliminary injunction in regard to the Colorado law that revived Colorado’s explicit rejection of federal usury preemption under the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (“DIDMCA”)). 2023 Colo. Legis. Serv. Ch. 375 (H.B. 23-1229). The law was to take effect July 1, 2024, and apply to consumer credit transactions made or renewed on or after July 1, 2024… Read More
Have You Taken Any Shortcuts in Your Documentation
On June 4, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued Circular 2024-03 regarding unlawful and unenforceable contract terms and conditions. The CFPB asserted that covered persons and service providers can violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s (“CFPA”) prohibition on deceptive acts and practices by including various terms that, among other things, (i) purport to waive or otherwise limit consumer rights or (ii) hide or misrepresent the terms applicable to consumers by using vague language to qualify language with broad disclaimers such as “subject to applicable law,” leaving the impression that an inapplicable or otherwise unenforceable provision could actually apply to a particular consumer. Read More
CFPB Proposes Rule Prohibiting Medical Debt from Credit Reports
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced a proposed amendment to Regulation V which would prohibit medical debt from credit reports in most circumstances. The proposed amendment is the latest step in the CFPB’s crusade against medical debt and follows the announcement in September 2023 of its intention to ban medical debt from credit reports… Read More