DFS SUPERINTENDENT VULLO AND A.G. JAMES ANNOUNCE $9 MILLION SETTLEMENT WITH CONDUENT EDUCATION SERVICES, LLC FOR ENGAGING IN ILLEGAL PRACTICES WHILE SERVICING STUDENT LOANS

Financial Services Superintendent Maria T. Vullo and Attorney General Letitia James today announced that the Department of Financial Services (DFS) and the New York Attorney General’s Office have entered into a joint settlement with Conduent Education Services, LLC, formerly known as Xerox Education Services, LLC, and formerly known as and doing business as ACS Education Services, Inc. (Conduent), for engaging in practices that harmed student loan borrowers. Today’s announcement is part of DFS’s ongoing efforts to protect student borrowers from harmful and illegal student loan practices.

Attorney general announces settlement in debt-relief action

BOISE — Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden announced a settlement with an Illinois-based education company that will result in the waiving of $493.7 million in debts owed by more than 179,000 students nationally. The settlement with Career Education Corporation involves Idaho and 48 other states. In Idaho, about 388 students will get relief totaling approximately $862,562. Nationally, the average individual debt relief will be about $2,750. A group of attorneys general launched an investigation into Career Education Corporation in January 2014, alleging that CEC pressured its employees to enroll students and engaged in unfair and deceptive practices. These practices included making misleading statements or failing to disclose information to prospective students on total costs, transferability of credits, program offerings and job placement rates.

Fintech lenders and banks call for clarification on alternative data usage in loan origination

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has called for financial regulators to pay more attention to the role played by nonbank technology companies in the consumer and small business lending market. The GAO conducted interviews with eleven fintech lenders and found a seven-fold growth in loan volumes from such companies between 2013 and 2017 alongside increasing alliances with banks to grow their portfolios and finance their lending. Some of the fintech lenders GAO interviewed said they use alternative data to supplement the traditional data used to make credit decisions or to detect potential fraud. Some alternative data (such as on-time rent payments) are financial and similar to traditional data, while others are nonfinancial, such as a borrower’s educational institution and degree. 

Maxine Waters: Much of my work will be undoing Mulvaney’s ‘damage’ to CFPB

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said one of her top priorities will be undoing the damage by former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau chief Mick Mulvaney now that Democrats control the House.   In an interview Thursday on "All In with Chris Hayes," the newly-named House Financial Services Committee chairwoman called Mulvaney's reforms to the agency, which she says eroded consumer protections, "dangerous" for American consumers.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Settles with USAA Federal Savings Bank

Washington, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) today announced a settlement with USAA Federal Savings Bank, a federally chartered savings association headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.   As described in the consent order, the Bureau found that USAA violated the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E by failing to properly honor consumers’ stop payment requests on preauthorized electronic fund transfers, and by failing to initiate and complete reasonable error resolution investigations. USAA also violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 by reopening deposit accounts consumers had previously closed without seeking prior authorization or providing adequate notice.

U.S. banks ‘well-positioned’ for adverse market conditions: OCC spokesman

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. banking system has strong capital and liquidity and is well-positioned to manage more adverse market conditions, a spokesman for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said on Wednesday. In a statement to Reuters, Bryan Hubbard said the banking regulator was monitoring the effects of falling stock markets on the nearly 1,300 institutions it oversees and would share any relevant systemic information with fellow supervisors through the appropriate interagency forums. U.S. stocks posted a loss in 2018 for the first time in a decade due to fears over a weakening global economy and the U.S.-China trade war, sparking fears turmoil could spread to other parts of the financial system.

US student debt levels set a new record in 2018—here’s how much the typical borrower owes

This year, U.S. student debt levels set a new record. According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, borrowers collectively owe over $1.5 trillion in student loans.
Debt has become an inevitable part of going to college for millions of Americans. The most recent Survey of Household Economics and Decision-making (SHED) from the Federal Reserve Board indicates that 42 percent of Americans who attended college, and 30 percent of all adults, have incurred debt in order to finance a degree.

Status of FTC Online Services During 2018 Lapse in Funding

December 28, 2018: The FTC is closed as of midnight Friday, December 28, 2018, due to the lapse in government funding. Website information and social media properties will not be updated until the government re-opens. All FTC events are postponed until future notice. Some online services are available, and some are not. The status of online services is listed below.

FCC TO SUSPEND MOST OPERATIONS MID-DAY THURSDAY IN THE EVENT OF A CONTINUED PARTIAL LAPSE IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FUNDING

WASHINGTON, December 31, 2018—In the event of a continued partial lapse in federal government funding, the Federal Communications Commission will suspend most operations in the middle of the day on Thursday, January 3. At that time, employees will have up to four   hours to complete an orderly shutdown of operations.  However, work required for the protection of life and property will continue, as will any work related to spectrum auctions, which is funded by auction proceeds.

Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C) Adjustment to Asset-Size Exemption Threshold

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is issuing a final rule amending the official commentary that interprets the requirements of the Bureau's Regulation C (Home Mortgage Disclosure) to reflect the asset-size exemption threshold for banks, savings associations, and credit unions based on the annual percentage change in the average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). 

NAFCU offers ways for bureau to improve data collection, protection

Scaling back existing data collections, limiting access to personally identifiable information (PII) and reconsidering which data are made public were among NAFCU's suggestions to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection as it reviews its data collection practices.   NAFCU Senior Counsel for Research and Policy Andrew Morris made the suggestions in a letter to the bureau last week; it was in response to a request for information that also included a bureau report on its data sources and uses.

2018 BCFP Annual Employee Survey Results

More than 72 percent of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP) employee population responded to the seventh annual employee survey conducted between Aug. 6 and Aug. 31, 2018.   Bureau leaders use feedback from tools like the annual employee survey to develop strategies to better meet employee needs. Survey results are shared across the organization to encourage leaders to actively seek and respond to opportunities to improve the employee work experience. BCFP continues to develop as an organization and is actively leveraging employee feedback to inform organizational goals and activity.

Receivables Management Association 22nd Annual Conference

FTC Hearing on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century – February 2019

Federal Trade Commission

ACA International Spring Forum & Expo 2019

ACA International

NCUCA – National Credit Union Collection Alliance

NCUCA - National Credit Union Collection Alliance

Collection & Recovery Solutions 2019

Resource Management Services, Inc.

National Creditors Bar Association 2019 Spring Conference

National Creditors Bar Association

PrivacyCon 2019

Federal Trade Commission

ACA International 2019 Annual Convention & Expo

ACA International

Debt Connection Symposium & Expo 2019

Resource Management Services, Inc.

National Creditors Bar Association 2019 Fall Conference

National Creditors Bar Association