Weekly mortgage demand flattens, as interest rates climb higher to 7.14%

Mortgage rates rose again last week, throwing even more cold water on demand from both current homeowners and potential homebuyers. Weekly application volume fell 0.1% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

Credit Card and Personal Loan Balances Reach Record Levels as Consumers Navigate High Inflation, Rising Interest Rates (transunion.com)

The third quarter of 2022 saw more consumers turning to unsecured personal loans and credit cards as a means to help stave off the financial pressures brought on by inflation.

Americans Pile on Another $25 Billion in Consumer Debt

American consumers continue to dig deeper into debt as they try to cope with rising prices using credit cards. Americans added another $25 billion to their record levels of debt in September, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve.

Credit card balances reach record $866B as consumers battle economic headwinds

Credit card and personal loan balances have reached record highs in recent months as an increasing number of consumers lean on such means to combat growing financial pressures caused by sky-high inflation. 

Americans Adjust Debt Management and Investment Strategies as Inflation Continues to Pose Challenges

NEW YORK, November 09, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As inflation continues to pose challenges for American adults’ financial strategies, New York Life’s latest Wealth Watch survey has found that people are coping by adjusting debt management and investment strategies, although the financial guidance informing these strategy adjustments varies by generational cohort. The latest survey revealed that more than half of adults reported expecting their living expenses to be higher in the second half of 2022 than the first, and 61% of respondents agree that they are more nervous about their financial future now than ever before.

Troutman Pepper Weekly Consumer Financial Services Newsletter – November 2022

To help you keep abreast of relevant activities, below find a breakdown of some of the biggest events at the federal and state levels to impact the Consumer Finance Services industry this past week:

After student loan forgiveness, 73% of borrowers plan to spend more on travel and dining out

Any day now, federal student loan borrowers throughout the U.S. could see their balances reduced by up to $20,000 thanks to President Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan. The administration is waiting on a green light from a federal judge to actually start reducing balances, but still says applicants can expect good news in the coming weeks.

House Committee on Small Business GOP Advances Oversight on Regulatory Burden for Small Businesses

Leaders in the U.S. House of Representative’s Committee on Small Business are seeking answers on the regulatory burden for small businesses from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission, among other agencies.

5 Strategic Steps to Improve Year-End Collections

Financial regulators in the U.S. are worried that inflation is feeding on itself. As we brace ourselves for more interest rate hikes, what are the implications for your business? Before we can answer this question, we need to look at the cumulative effect of the Fed’s latest actions to control spiraling costs.

New York City Proposes Amendments to Debt Collection Rules

The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection is proposing amendments to its debt collection rules that would strengthen consumer disclosures and update requirements for reports licensed agencies must submit to the department, among other changes.

Attorney General Frosh Enters into Multistate Settlements Addressing 2015 Experian Data Breach

BALTIMORE, MD (November 7, 2022) – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today announced separate settlements with Experian Information Solutions, Inc. (Experian) and TMobile USA, Inc. (T-Mobile) concerning a 2015 data breach experienced by Experian that compromised the personal information of more than 15 million individuals who submitted credit applications with T-Mobile.

Attorney General Announces Settlement with Court Ventures, Inc. (an Experian-Owned Company) that Allowed an Identity Thief Access to Its System

BALTIMORE, MD (November 7, 2022) – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today announced that Maryland, along with 39 other attorneys general, has obtained a $1 million
multistate settlement with Experian Data Corp for failing to warn affected consumers after it learned that an identity thief posing as a private investigator had retrieved sensitive personal
information from Court Ventures, Inc., a data aggregator, that Experian Data Corp had purchased in March 2012.

FTC Takes Action Against Ed Tech Provider for Failure to Secure Student’s Personal Information

On October 31, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it has taken action against education technology provider Chegg Inc. (“Chegg”) for its “careless” cybersecurity practices that exposed sensitive personal information of millions of its customers and employees.  This action highlights the FTC’s continued efforts to aggressively protect consumer personal data.

CUNA economics: Tight job market continues

CUNA Senior Economist Dawit Kebede issued the following statement in response to the Labor Department’s October Employment Situation:   “The U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs in October, with service-providing industries responsible for 77% of the growth.

SchoolsFirst FCU Named Among Top Financial Service Organizations

TUSTIN, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, the largest credit union serving school employees and their families, was recently recognized by American Banker and CNET as a top credit union for its outstanding service experience and products. American Banker is one of the oldest and most prominent media outlets covering the financial services industry, and CNET – owned by CBS Interactive – is one of the first online sites providing expert reviews and advice.

CFPB Targets Financial Industry’s Ability to ‘Hoard’ Personal Data in Proposed Rule

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking steps to potentially incorporate more financial data protection rules into federal regulations to help individuals maintain control over their sensitive information.

Home Health Care Company To Pay $425,000 Following Data Breach Impacting Thousands of Massachusetts Residents

BOSTON — A Georgia-based home health and hospice care company will pay $425,000 after it failed to implement proper security measures to protect the personal information of patients and employees, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

Convergent Outsourcing, Inc. Reports Data Breach Following Ransomware Attack

On October 26, 2022, Convergent Outsourcing, Inc. reported a data breach with the Montana Attorney General after the company experienced a ransomware attack. According to Convergent Outsourcing, the breach resulted in the names, contact information, financial account numbers, and Social Security numbers being compromised.

Banks processed $1.2B in ransomware-related payments in 2021, FinCEN says

U.S. financial institutions reported a record-setting $1.2 billion worth of ransomware-related filings in 2021, a nearly 200% increase compared to the $416 million in 2020, according to a report published by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on Tuesday.

Ethos Group Confirms Recent Data Breach

On October 31, 2022, Ethos Group filed documents with the Vermont Attorney General announcing that the company recently experienced a data breach impacting the security of consumer information stored on its computer systems. While the company has not yet disclosed the exact data types leaked in the recent breach, based on the relevant data breach reporting requirements, it is likely that the incident affected consumers’ names and one or more of the following: Social Security numbers, financial account information, protected health information or government identification numbers.

30% of Adults Taking out Loans in Past Six Months Used Them for Emergencies or to Pay Bills, ScoreSense Survey Finds

DALLAS , Nov. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Thirty percent of consumers who took out loans during the past six months used them for emergencies or to pay bills, and one out of four people used recent loans to pay towards credit card debt, according to a consumer survey by ScoreSense®, a credit score monitoring product. The survey findings, revealed in the "Survey of Consumers with Recent Loans and Credit Outlook Analysis," focused on consumer loan and credit activity for the third quarter of 2022.

5.5 million student-loan borrowers will struggle to restart payments in January, a consumer watchdog finds — but a third of them could have their balances completely wiped out if Biden’s debt cancellation plan goes through

Millions of student-loan borrowers are projected to struggle if they're thrown into repayment next year — but that could all change if President Joe Biden's debt relief plan follows through.

Feds warn of scam student loan debt robocalls

The FCC’s Robocall Response Team is warning consumers about a potential uptick in student loan debt robocalls in the wake of the recent announcement of nationwide federal student loan debt relief. Scammers often use broadly publicized news to add an air of legitimacy and familiarity to their spoofed robocalls. Scammers might use the calls to pressure consumers to make a payment or provide private information. But consumers should be aware that there is no fee to apply for student loan debt relief and that applications are accepted only at StudentAid.gov/DebtRelief.

PA ATTORNEY GENERAL FILES SUIT AGAINST NY-BASED FLUENT FOR THEIR ROLE IN THE ILLEGAL DISTRIBUTION OF ROBOCALLS TO PA CONSUMERS

HARRISBURG– Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced today that his office filed a lawsuit against New York-based Fluent, Inc. – a company that connects advertisers to potential new customers through the consumers’ personal data – for their and their subsidiaries’ role in allegedly causing hundreds of thousands of unwanted robocalls to be placed to Pennsylvania consumers. Fluent and its subsidiaries Fluent LLC, CAC, American Prize Center, LLC, Deliver Technology, LLC, Rewardzone USA, LLC, and Samples & Savings USA, LLC, collected personal information, including telephone numbers, and that was then sold to telemarketing companies. This included the personal information of thousands of consumers on Pennsylvania’s Do Not Call List.

Generation USA and Addition Financial Credit Union Partner for Credit Union Member Services Specialist Program

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Generation USA and the League of Southeastern Credit Unions and Affiliates have partnered with Addition Financial Credit Union on Generation USA's Credit Union Member Services Specialist Program.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions Study Shows Nearly Half of Participating Healthcare Payers Experienced a Data Breach in the Last Five Years, Costing an Average of $5.39M per Incident

ATLANTA, Nov. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, the leading provider of healthcare data analytics and technology, today released its True Cost of Fraud™ for Healthcare Payers study, which analyzes the impact cyberfraud has on healthcare payers, particularly how much it costs their business, and inevitably affects the overall cost of care.

NCUA Vice Chairman Hosts “Blockchain Helping Main Street” Panel at DEI & ACCESS Summit | NCUA

HERNDON, Va. (Nov. 4, 2022) – At the National Credit Union Administration’s 2022 DEI & ACCESS Summit, Vice Chairman Kyle S. Hauptman hosted a panel that explored how blockchain technologies can benefit underserved and unserved consumers. The discussion highlighted the Vice Chairman’s ongoing commitment to small and de novo credit unions, along with his focus on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and how these technologies are currently helping people around the world.

Cryptocurrency and Bankruptcy –The Unknown Frontier

Currencies have evolved since the introduction of global blockchain technology twenty years ago. Blockchain is a complex technology that powers the creation of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and facilitates other digital distributed ledger transactions. With more people investing in crypto assets now more than ever before, the global digital currency market is likely to grow over the next decade. 

And the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Partner Award goes to . . .

Director of the National Attorneys General Training and Research Institute’s (NAGTRI) Center for Consumer Protection at the National Association of Attorneys General, Abby has devoted her career to the cause of consumer protection. Before coming to NAAG in 2017, Abby was Chief of the Consumer Protection Bureau in the Nebraska AG’s Office, where she was a formidable leader in the fight against fraud and deception. At NAGTRI, Abby heads the nation’s only entity dedicated solely to providing training, research, and expertise to the staff of AGs’ offices and other government agencies committed to protecting the public from consumer fraud and abuse.

Federal Trade Commission Returns More Than $830,000 to Students Misled by Saint James Medical School’s Deceptive Marketing Claims

The Federal Trade Commission is sending payments totaling more than $830,300 to 1,376 people who began their enrollment at Saint James School of Medicine between Fall 2016 and Summer 2021. The for-profit medical school in the Caribbean and its Illinois-based operators allegedly misled prospective students about their chances of success—both in passing a medical school standardized test and in matching with a residency program after graduation.

CFPB investigating U.S. Bank over pandemic-era unemployment payments

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is investigating U.S. Bank over its handling of unemployment insurance payments using prepaid debit cards during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minneapolis-based bank disclosed in a securities filing on Tuesday.

NC AG investigating two companies suspected of accepting and routing illegal robocalls

North Carolina’s attorney general is investigating two companies that provide calling service on the internet for possibly accepting and routing illegal robocalls to people across the country.

NCUA’s Hood: Addressing Inequality is An Urgent Priority

HERNDON, Va. (Nov. 3, 2022) – National Credit Union Administration Board Member Rodney E. Hood said today that as federally insured credit unions embrace diversity and inclusion, they should go further and bridge society’s divides to better serve their members and communities and foster greater financial inclusion.

16M student debt relief applications approved this week, White House says

Sixteen million Americans with student debt will soon get their application for forgiveness approved — though the cancellation won’t appear on their accounts while a legal challenge from Republican-led states plays out in court.

ARM Industry Claims Plummeted in September

WebRecon’s latest report shows litigation plummeted across the board in September in Telephone Consumer Protection Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act cases. FDCPA suits decreased 18% from August to September, TCPA suits decreased 20.2%, FCRA cases decreased 6.4%, and consumer complaints to the CFPB decreased 11.1%, according to WebRecon.

FTC Action Against Vonage Results in $100 Million to Customers Trapped by Illegal Dark Patterns and Junk Fees When Trying to Cancel Service

The Federal Trade Commission has stopped internet phone service provider Vonage from imposing junk fees and creating obstacles to those who try to cancel their service. The FTC alleges that the company used dark patterns to make it difficult for consumers to cancel and often continued to illegally charge them even after they spoke to an agent directly and requested cancellation.

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RMAi 2023 Annual Conference

Join us in Las Vegas, February 6-9, for the 2023 RMAI Annual Conference. Registration opens October 3, 2022.