CFPB sued for not collecting data on business lending to women, minorities

A California community group has filed suit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, accusing it of failing to collect data from banks on lending to women- and minority-owned small businesses as required by federal law. Filed on Tuesday in San Francisco federal court, the lawsuit by the California Reinvestment Coalition said the data is critical to identifying “credit deserts” where the small businesses may have difficulty getting loans. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act required the CFPB to collect and publish the data but the bureau has not done so, the lawsuit said.

How FinTech is driving innovative lending

The benefits of a thriving SME sector are clear and regularly cited by governments and economists. In Singapore, SMEs account for around two-thirds of the workforce and a large chunk of GDP growth. But if these firms can’t get funding, their failure to thrive has a dampening effect on the larger economy. For larger companies and multinationals, the options for accessing credit are established and numerous, but for sole proprietors and small businesses, the most frequent solution is to seek a loan. Their traditional route for sourcing loans has been to approach the banks, but for those with no credit history, insufficient collateral, or no proof of a stable revenue stream for repayments, credit solutions offered by banks have remained out of reach – a situation ripe for technological disruption. 

CUs, NAFCU meet with regulators on payday lending

NAFCU met with the CFPB and NCUA yesterday to discuss issues related to payday lending, including the bureau's proposal to delay and change some requirements of its payday lending rule and credit unions' payday alternative loans (PALs) programs. NAFCU's advocacy efforts led the bureau to take into account credit unions' concerns in the final 2017 rule and create a safe harbor for PALs.

Consumer groups oppose allowing debt collectors to email, text and call seven times a week

Consumer advocacy groups across the country are encouraging the public to voice objections to a proposal last week from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to change the rules on how debt collectors contact people.  Under the plan, creditors could call debtors up to seven times a week, plus send emails and text messages.   “These new rules will sanction seven calls a week per account per debtor,” said Margot Saunders, senior counsel at the National Consumer Law Center in Washington, D.C. “Most consumers with overdue debts have several accounts overdue. Usually something terrible has happened and they don’t have any money.”

FCC CHAIRMAN ANNOUNCES ANOTHER STEP IN FIGHT AGAINST SPOOFED ROBOCALLS

WASHINGTON, May 13, 2019—Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai today announced another significant step in ensuring implementation of more reliable caller ID information to combat malicious spoofed robocalls. The Chairman expects major phone companies to  emplement SHAKEN/STIR caller ID authentication standards this year, and he will host a summit on July 11, 2019 to examine industry’s progress toward meeting this deadline. The summit will also identify any challenges to   deployment of the SHAKEN/STIR framework and discuss how best to overcome them.

CFPB details plan to reconsider and potentially eliminate existing rules

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is already in the midst of enacting changes to some of its rules, namely the requirements for the data collection and reporting stipulated by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and its enforcement practices, but those may not be the only rule changes coming from the CFPB. The CFPB announced Monday that it plans to “periodically” review its regulations and may amend or even abolish existing rules. According to the CFPB, the review of its rules is stipulated by the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which establishes that agencies should review certain rules within 10 years of their enactment and consider those rules’ impact on “small businesses.”

CFPB Director Kraninger Announces Deputy Director

Washington, D.C. — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathleen L. Kraninger today announced that Brian Johnson will serve as the Deputy Director. Mr. Johnson first joined the Bureau in December 2017 as Senior Advisor to the Director and was named Principal Policy Director in April 2018. Mr. Johnson has served as Acting Deputy Director since July 2018. 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Outlines Plan to Review Rules Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a notice on how it plans to periodically review regulations under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and to request public input. Additionally, the Bureau published a notice requesting public input as part of its first RFA review examining the 2009 Overdraft Rule. 

This week: NAFCU monitoring financial regulators, payday hearings

Ahead of a hearing Thursday where lawmakers are set to discuss the CFPB's proposed repeal of the payday lending rule, NAFCU and member credit unions will meet today with the bureau and NCUA to discuss the payday lending rule and credit unions' payday alternative loans (PALs) programs.

Why creditors and servicers should care about the CFPB’s proposed debt collection rules

The Bureau’s proposed debt collection rules, released last week, only apply to debt collectors, as defined under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  So, why should creditors and servicers be interested in them?  Lots of reasons. First, a number of provisions call for creditors (or by extension, servicers) to take action before a debt is assigned to a collection agency in order to facilitate the collection agency’s use of electronic communications with the consumer.  The various provisions that allow a consumer’s consent to receive electronic communications to be transferred from a creditor to a debt collector either require the creditor to keep records of the consumer’s prior E-SIGN consent, or require the creditor to make a disclosure to the consumer about placement of the debt with a collection agency, and then track any consumer opt-outs from receiving electronic communications from the debt collector. 

It could become easier for people with student debt to file for bankruptcy

Lawmakers have introduced a bill that would make it easier for student loan borrowers to cancel their debt in bankruptcy. The measure, which is supported by 14 Democrats, one Republican and one independent, is dubbed the Student Borrower Bankruptcy Relief Act of 2019. “Americans struggling financially should have the option to discharge their student loans during bankruptcy as a last resort,” said John Katko, R-New York. “This bipartisan legislation makes that change.” A number of consumer advocacy groups, including Americans for Financial Reform, the National Consumer Law Center and the Center for Responsible Lending, praised the bill. “It’s important to have legislation that will provide vulnerable student loan borrowers who cannot repay their debt with a pathway to reestablish their financial stability,” said Cheye-Ann Corona, a senior policy associate at the Center for Responsible Lending.

BankThink It’s a mistake to dismiss CFPB’s complaint database

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has frequently been criticized for inaccurately portraying the number of complaints in its database. Because the CFPB frames “mere” inquiries as complaints too, the validity of its data is being challenged. But customer voices are a business’s most valuable asset and need to be taken seriously — whether they are categorized as complaints or inquiries. When people turn to the CFPB with a complaint or an inquiry, they have an issue that hasn’t yet been resolved. With approximately one million complaints accepted over the course of seven years, the CFPB’s volume of complaints is not small. The banking industry should pay attention to each and every complaint, regardless of how many complaints there are in total.

Credit bureaus draw the most consumer complaints to the CFPB

Getting incorrect or outdated information fixed or removed from one's credit report is a problem many consumers share. It's so common that hundreds of thousands of them lodged complaints against the three major credit bureaus last year. And that made credit reports the most-complained-about product in 2018, according to a new analysis of more than 257,000 complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Credit reporting, credit-repair services or other personal consumer complaints accounted for 43 percent of all complaints to the CFPB last year. That's up from 23 percent in 2016, according to U.S. PIRG Education Fund, a nonpartisan consumer advocacy group.

CFPB Director Kathleen L. Kraninger’s Speech at the Debt Collection Town Hall

Thank you all for coming. I’m delighted to be at my first CFPB town hall.  Philadelphia has always been a special place to me. With Independence Hall as the foundation, this city always reminds me of the importance of democracy and public service. I could not think of a better city to be in as the Bureau continues to focus on developing and promoting the right policies for the American people.   The Bureau issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking yesterday on debt collection. Clear rules of the road, where consumers know their rights and debt collectors know their limitations, are a step towards fulfilling the intent of the law. 

Crypto-Friendly US Congress Members Join New Fintech Task Force

The U.S. House of Representatives is launching a new task force aimed specifically at financial technology – including blockchain. The new task force, referred to as the FinTech Task Force, was established by the House Financial Services Committee by a voice vote Thursday, and will examine blockchain and cryptocurrency tools, among others. The task force will be headed up by Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch. Its initial list of issues includes regulating fintech from both domestic and international perspectives; lending and using “alternative data” for loan underwriting; examining the legal and regulatory frameworks for payments, as well as the infrastructure; and data privacy.

CFPB DEBT COLLECTION TOWN HALL

(Sacramento, CA) – Yesterday, the Receivables Management Association International (RMAI) had a front row seat at the CFPB Debt Collection Town Hall in Philadelphia, PA. Representing RMAI was RMAI Executive Director Jan Stieger, RMAI President Marian Sangalang, RMAI President-Elect Jim Mastriani, and RMAI Legal Counsel Don Maurice. The event was hosted by the CFPB to receive insights and feedback from the business and consumer communities on the CFPB’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Debt Collection Practices. 

Clear and Present Danger?: New Ruling Highlights TCPA Perils Faced by Providers of Autodialer and Mass Message Services

It is a truism in this great nation of ours that weapons don’t kill people, people do. So weapons manufacturers are rarely, if ever, liable for their sale—even if some remarkably high number of those weapons will eventually be used for illegal conduct. The second amendment, of course, assures that all Americans have the right to bear arms as long as they are part of a well-regulated, state-run militia. So… there.

WebRecon Stats for April 2019: Lawsuits up, YTD trends remain the same

For the first time since January, all lawsuit categories were up in April (FDCPA +11.5%, FCRA +22.3%, TCPA +1.7%) though CFPB complaints were down (fairly dramatically at -21.3%) from the prior month.   FDCPA (-8.3%) and TCPA (10.9%) are still trending down YTD while FCRA is back trending up YTD (+5.3%) after briefly dipping into negative YTD territory last month.

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