NY Regulator and Lawmakers Join CFPB in Push to Ban Overdraft Fees

Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has made it a priority for the bureau to fight against “junk fees,” overdraft fees, non-sufficient fund (NSF) fees and credit card late fees. He has also encouraged state regulators to take a more active role in applying consumer finance protection rules, as federal law doesn't prevent them from applying certain rules.

BNPL inclusion in credit reports causes growing consumer concerns, survey claims

Equifax recently announced that it will begin including BNPL information in consumer credit reports in an attempt to make these products safer for consumers and ensure they are not being overloaded with debt. 

CFPB Tightens Obligations of Credit Bureaus, Users Under FCRA’s ‘Permissible Purpose’ Provisions

On July 7, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an advisory opinion interpreting the “permissible purpose” provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The advisory opinion states that consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) may not share consumer reports unless they have reason to believe a user has a legally permissible purpose for requesting the information, and that the information it provides relates to the consumer subject to the request. 

CFPB Advisory Opinion: Pay-to-Pay, “Convenience” Fees Prohibited by FDCPA

On June 29, the CFPB issued an advisory opinion affirming that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Regulation F prohibit debt collectors from collecting pay-to-pay or “convenience fees” imposed for making a payment in a particular way, such as by phone or online, when such fees are not expressly authorized by the underlying agreement or otherwise permitted by law. In interpreting FDCPA Section 808, the Bureau’s advisory opinion explains that:

OCC Assesses $125 Million Civil Money Penalty Against Bank of America, Orders Restitution for Unfair and Deceptive Practices

WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today assessed a $125 million civil money penalty against Bank of America, N.A., for violations of law and unsafe or unsound practices relating to the bank’s administration of a prepaid card program to distribute unemployment insurance and other public benefit payments. The OCC also ordered the bank to provide remediation to consumers harmed by the bank’s practices and violations of law.

Federal Regulators Fine Bank of America $225 Million Over Botched Disbursement of State Unemployment Benefits at Height of Pandemic

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fined Bank of America $100 million for botching the disbursement of state unemployment benefits at the height of the pandemic. Bank of America automatically and unlawfully froze people’s accounts with a faulty fraud detection program, and then gave them little recourse when there was, in fact, no fraud. Today’s order requires Bank of America to undertake a process that is estimated to result in hundreds of millions of dollars in redress to consumers. In a separate order, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is also fining the bank $125 million.

Attorney General James Delivers $230,000 to New York City to Support Consumer Financial Literacy Programs

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today delivered more than $230,000 to the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) to support free financial literacy programs for New Yorkers.

CFPB highlights impact of credit card line decreases on consumers

A new report by the CFPB uses over five million credit records from one of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies to examine how credit card companies have used credit line decreases throughout the Great Recession and the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.  As a general trend, the report found issuers used credit line decreases during broad economic downturns as a way to decrease overall risk.

Recent CFPB Advisory Opinion Puts Pay-to-Pay Fees in Crosshairs

“Convenience” fees charged to consumers for the use of certain debt payment options have come under increased scrutiny, as regulators have sought to limit charges and other back-end fees that may come as a surprise to consumers.

CFPB Agrees to March 31, 2023 Deadline for Final Rule Under Section 1071

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) agreed to a March 31, 2023 deadline to issue a final rule under Section 1071 of Dodd-Frank. Section 1071 amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to impose significant data collection requirements on small business creditors.

FTC Details Its Enforcement Actions to Crack Down on Fraud Against the Military Community in Testimony Before House Oversight Subcommittee

The Federal Trade Commission testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on National Security today about the aggressive action the agency is taking to crack down on fraud and related threats against servicemembers and the broader military community.

Written Testimony of James S. Rice, Assistant Director, Office of Servicemember Affairs, before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on National Security

Chairman Lynch, Ranking Member Grothman, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, it is my pleasure to appear before you today to discuss the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) Office of Servicemember Affairs (OSA) and the recent actions we have taken to protect servicemembers, veterans, and their families from scams and harmful practices as they navigate the financial marketplace.

Afni, Inc. Announces Data Breach

Recently, Afni, Inc. filed official notice of a data breach that impacted the sensitive information of certain individuals. According to the Afni, the breach resulted in the names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth being compromised. On June 14, 2022, Afni, Inc. filed an official notice of the breach and sent out data breach letters to all affected parties.

Recent CFPB Advisory Opinion Puts Pay-to-Pay Fees in Crosshairs

“Convenience” fees charged to consumers for the use of certain debt payment options have come under increased scrutiny, as regulators have sought to limit charges and other back-end fees that may come as a surprise to consumers. Also known as “pay-to-pay” fees, such convenience charges are typically imposed by debt collectors and/or loan servicers where a debtor chooses to make payment online, by telephone, or through another electronic medium.

Medical Debt and Credit Scores: How New Rules Ease the Pain

Medical debt is now as American as apple pie -- more than half of US adults say they've gone into debt from medical or dental bills in the last five years, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey. A quarter of those adults owe more than $5,000 and almost 20% say that they don't expect to ever pay off their medical debt.

Kinecta Federal Credit Union Awarded on the Forbes Best-In-State Credit Unions 2022 List

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. , July 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Forbes' recent listing of America's Best Credit Unions in Each State 2022 ranked Kinecta Federal Credit Union, a leading financial services provider based in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, as a top-ranked credit union in California. To highlight the best credit unions in each state, Forbes partnered with Statista and went directly to customers, conducting in-depth interviews of more than 26,000 U.S. citizens from every state on their credit union relationships.

Nearly 3 Percent of U.S. Mortgages in Delinquency, Reports CoreLogic

CoreLogic’s monthly Loan Performance Insights Report for April 2022 shows that 2.9% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure), representing a 1.8 percentage point decrease compared to 4.7% in April 2021.

A champion for innovation

Early in Ben Maxim’s career at Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) in East Lansing, he pitched the idea of creating an iPhone app for the $6.2 billion asset credit union.

Promoting competition in our financial markets

A year ago, the President issued an executive order to launch a whole-of-government effort to promote competition in the American economy. When families and businesses face limited choices, they can encounter higher prices and worse customer service.

CFPB Sues ACE Cash Express for Concealing No-Cost Repayment Plans and Improperly Withdrawing Consumers’ Funds

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a lawsuit today accusing payday lender ACE Cash Express of concealing free repayment plans from struggling borrowers. Because of ACE’s illegal practices, individual borrowers paid hundreds or thousands of dollars in reborrowing fees, when they were in fact eligible for free repayment plans. These practices generated at least $240 million in fees for ACE, while keeping borrowers in debt. The CFPB also alleges that ACE lied to borrowers about the number of times it would attempt to debit their bank accounts for repayment of loans and fees. In a 2014 CFPB enforcement action, ACE paid $10 million in penalties and borrower refunds for using illegal debt-collection tactics, and the company is still bound by the order from that case.

Experian, You Have Some Explaining to Do

Twice in the past month KrebsOnSecurity has heard from readers who had their accounts at big-three credit bureau Experian hacked and updated with a new email address that wasn’t theirs. In both cases the readers used password managers to select strong, unique passwords for their Experian accounts. Research suggests identity thieves were able to hijack the accounts simply by signing up for new accounts at Experian using the victim’s personal information and a different email address.

Used Car Repossession Rates Double for Both Sub-Prime and Prime Borrowers, Indicates Trouble on Main Street

Barrons has an interesting article on an increase in bank auto repossession rates connected to defaults [see here].  Essentially, used car prices have surged significantly and the timeline seems to indicate the temporary covid-19 stimulus spending had a lot to do with the increase in demand.

Location, health, and other sensitive information: FTC committed to fully enforcing the law against illegal use and sharing of highly sensitive data

Among the most sensitive categories of data collected by connected devices are a person’s precise location and information about their health. Smartphones, connected cars, wearable fitness trackers, “smart home” products, and even the browser you’re reading this on are capable of directly observing or deriving sensitive information about users. Standing alone, these data points may pose an incalculable risk to personal privacy.

CFPB Issues Advisory Opinion on Credit Reporting and Permissible Purpose Under FCRA

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an advisory Thursday to ensure that companies that use and share credit reports and background reports have a permissible purpose under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

CUNA Research: June Jobs Report Falls in Line with Expectations

Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Chief Economist Mike Schenk issued the following statement in response to the Labor Department’s June Employment Situation:   

CFPB Advisory Opinion Bans Debt Collectors from Charging Unauthorized Convenience Fees

The CFPB issued an Advisory Opinion affirming the agency’s position that federal law generally prohibits debt collectors from charging “convenience fees” on consumers making payments, and providing guidance to the fees that debt collectors can lawfully collect.

Five Federal Agencies Issue Joint Statement on Approach to Customer Due Diligence

On July 6, five federal agencies − the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“FRB”), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), National Credit Union Administration (“NCUA”), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”), collectively, the “Agencies” − issued a Joint Statement on the Risk-Based Approach to Assessing Customer Relationships and Conducting Customer Due Diligence to “remind [banks, thrifts, credit unions and other covered institutions] of the risk-based approach to assessing customer relationships and conducting customer due diligence (CDD).”

Northwest Federal Credit Union and DATA Formalize Partnership

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Northwest Federal Credit Union (NWFCU) and The Dulles Area Transportation Association (DATA) formalized their partnership today making members of the DATA Community immediately eligible for NWFCU’s long list of member-owner financial services. This agreement will also allow NWFCU and DATA to better pool resources to help Northern Virginia residents in need.

Eleventh Circuit Finds Monthly Mortgage Statement Containing Boilerplate “This Is An Attempt To Collect A Debt” Language Constitutes A Communication “In Connection With The Collection of A Debt” Under The FDCPA

In Daniels v. Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc., 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 14013 (11th Cir. May 24, 2022) a panel of the Eleventh Circuit addressed the question “whether a required monthly mortgage statement that generally complies with the TILA and its regulations can plausibly be a communication ‘in connection with the collection of a debt’ under the FDCPA…if it contains additional debt-collection language.”

CFPB publishes Spring 2022 rulemaking agenda

The CFPB has published its Spring 2022 rulemaking agenda as part of the Spring 2022 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.  The agenda’s preamble indicates that the information in the agenda is current as of April 1, 2022 and identifies the regulatory matters that the Bureau “reasonably anticipates having under consideration during the period from June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023.

House Appropriations Member Offers Amendment to Block Student Loan Debt Cancellation

The House Appropriations Committee discussed proposals from the Biden administration during a markup June 30, including an amendment to block plans for student loan debt cancellation from U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa.

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