We start this issue with a feeling of déjà vu all over again. Decisions made during the mortgage crisis are back in the news with a powerhouse legal ruling and the Treasury’s initial thinking on how to turn back time. First, the Fifth Circuit issued an en banc decision finding the Federal Housing Finance Agency… Read More
Category Archives: Credit Reports
Subscribe to Credit Reports RSS FeedFinancial Services Report – Spring 2019
Posted in Arbitration, CFPB, Credit Cards, Credit Reports, Electronic Payments, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, Investigations, Mobile Payments, Mortgage, Payday Lending, Preemption, Privacy, Regulatory Developments, State Regulators, Student LendingIn the words of Willie Wonka: “Wait a minute — strike that, reverse it!” As loyal readers will recall, in our last issue, we tried to stay current in referring to the CFPB by what Mick Mulvaney declared would be its new name: the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Well, what a difference a director… Read More
Financial Services Report – Winter 2018
Posted in Arbitration, CFPB, Credit Cards, Credit Reports, Electronic Payments, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, Foreclosure, Investigations, Mobile Payments, Mortgage, Payday Lending, Preemption, Privacy, Regulatory Developments, State RegulatorsIn between holiday shopping and merriment, we here at the Financial Services Report are pondering what’s in a name. Not much, said Shakespeare. Isaac Asimov begged to differ in a mystery story about who killed one of the library twins (we won’t give away the twist that hinges on a name). So do companies that… Read More
Financial Services Report – Fall 2018
Posted in Arbitration, Auto Lending, CFPB, Credit Cards, Credit Reports, Electronic Payments, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, Investigations, Mobile Payments, Mortgage, Payday Lending, Preemption, Privacy, Regulatory Developments, State Regulators, Student Lending, UDAAPSo much for the lazy days of summer. It’s been a busy couple of months on both coasts. In a case of déjà vu all over again, a New York federal court found that the CFPB structure is unconstitutional and that the defects infected Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act as a whole. The Judge… Read More
Financial Services Report – Fall 2017
Posted in Arbitration, CFPB, Credit Cards, Credit Reports, Electronic Payments, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, Investigations, Mortgage, Preemption, Privacy, Regulatory Developments, State Regulators, UDAAPThrough hurricanes, wild fires, the publication of Hillary Clinton’s book, the birth of Amal and George Clooney’s twins, and the Dodgers’ historic losing streak, Director Richard Cordray and the CFPB’s Final Arbitration Rule are still standing. As my colleague Ollie Ireland explained, these days, it’s easier to predict the weather than it is to predict… Read More
Financial Services Report – Summer 2017
Posted in Add On Products, Arbitration, CFPB, Credit Cards, Credit Reports, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, Foreclosure, Investigations, Mobile Payments, Mortgage, Payday Lending, Preemption, Privacy, Regulatory Developments, State Regulators, Student LendingSummer blockbuster season is officially upon us. Have you seen Wonder Woman yet? What about Guardians of the Galaxy Part 2? It’s déjà vu all over again with Baywatch, Pirates of the Caribbean, Alien, Planet of the Apes, Transformers, Cars, Spider Man, and more Inconvenient Truths from Al Gore all coming to a theatre near… Read More
Financial Services Report – Spring 2017
Posted in Arbitration, CFPB, Credit Cards, Credit Reports, Electronic Payments, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, Foreclosure, Investigations, Military Issues, Mobile Payments, Mortgage, Payday Lending, Preemption, Privacy, Regulatory Developments, State Regulators, Student LendingIn like a lion, out like a lamb—it works for weather; does it work for new administrations? We’ll have to wait and see. We’ll have to wait and see about the length of CFPB Director Richard Cordray’s tenure and the fate of Dodd-Frank, as it appears the Trump administration is focusing on other priorities. So… Read More
The Latest Word (or Text) on TCPA Standing Post-Spokeo and Consent
Posted in Credit ReportsOn January 30, 2017, in Van Patten v. Vertical Fitness Group, No. 14-55980, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) plaintiff had sufficiently alleged an Article III injury-in-fact, under the United States Supreme Court’s Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins decision. The Ninth Circuit ultimately affirmed summary judgment in favor… Read More
Financial Services Report – Fall 2016
Posted in Add On Products, Arbitration, CFPB, Credit Cards, Credit Reports, Disparate Impact, Electronic Payments, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, Foreclosure, Military Issues, Mobile Payments, Mortgage, Payday Lending, Preemption, Privacy, Regulatory Developments, UDAAPSo much for summer! The weather is cooling, the kids are back to school, and we better not see you wearing white so long after Labor Day! For those of you having a little trouble getting back in the swing of things, we thought we’d lead with just a few of the animals making headlines… Read More
The Supreme Court’s Spokeo Decision: Concrete Shoes For Consumer Class Actions?
Posted in Credit ReportsToday the Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins. The decision takes on a hot topic in consumer class action law today—what must a plaintiff plead and prove to have standing to sue for a violation of a federal statute? The Court held that an allegation of a statutory violation,… Read More
Financial Services Report – Spring 2016
Posted in Arbitration, Auto Lending, CFPB, Credit Cards, Credit Reports, Disparate Impact, Electronic Payments, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, Foreclosure, Mobile Payments, Mortgage, Payday Lending, Preemption, Privacy, Regulatory Developments, State Regulators, UDAAPWhy another law firm newsletter? Over ten years ago, Will Stern answered that question in the first Editor’s Note of the first Financial Services Report. Some things have changed since then—we no longer print and mail paper copies, and we report on issues that were not even a twinkle in anyone’s eye back then (the… Read More
CFPB Publishes Semi-Annual Rulemaking Agenda
Posted in Arbitration, Auto Lending, CFPB, Credit Reports, Mortgage, Payday Lending, Regulatory Developments, Student LendingJust in time for the holidays, the CFPB released its Fall 2015 rulemaking agenda on Friday, November 20. The agenda does not include any major surprises, but it does slightly revise the projected timeline for several highly anticipated rulemaking activities. This alert lays out the highlights to consider between doses of turkey, football, and family…. Read More
Financial Services Report – Fall 2015
Posted in Arbitration, CFPB, Credit Cards, Credit Reports, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, Investigations, Mobile Payments, Mortgage, Payday Lending, Privacy, UDAAPThe kids may be back in school, but it was the adults who got smarter. North Korea moved to its own time zone, so now it lags only a half hour behind everyone else. Think about it. Show up late for work but still be on time. Know that the bartender really doesn’t mean it… Read More
CFPB Issues Monthly Complaint Snapshot – Failure to Provide Normalization and Other Necessary Comparison Metrics Continues
Posted in CFPB, Credit Reports, MortgageOn August 15, 2015, the CFPB released its latest “consumer complaint snapshot.” The Bureau’s “snapshots” generally provide updated national complaint information, and further include product and geographic spotlights that look into complaints involving a particular consumer financial product and a particular geographic location. In this month’s installment, the Bureau focused on credit reporting, as well… Read More
Supervisory Haiku-lights, Summer 2015
Posted in CFPB, Credit Reports, Fair Lending, Mortgage, Supervisory HighlightsBreak out the short shorts everybody: it’s summer! We know you could use a palate cleanser between the 50 Shades novels and Game of Thrones wikis you’re reading on the beach. Supervisory Haiku-lights to the rescue! The Summer 2015 issue of Supervisory Highlights includes supervisory observations on consumer reporting, debt collection, student loan servicing, mortgage… Read More
Financial Services Report – Summer 2015
Posted in Arbitration, CFPB, Credit Cards, Credit Reports, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, Investigations, Mobile Payments, Mortgage, Payday Lending, Preemption, Privacy, UDAAPJune is crowded with celebrations. It feels like a Tokyo subway. June is the month of weddings, graduations, flag days, and dad daze. June 15 is the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. This month we acclaim Summer Solstice, Gay Pride Month, and National Aquarium Month. And who could forget National Accordion Awareness Month? Seriously?… Read More
Déjà Vu: State AG Consumer Reporting Settlement Follows Landmark New York Agreement
Posted in Credit ReportsOn May 20, 2015, the attorneys general of 31 states settled with three major credit reporting agencies (CRAs) for six million dollars and commitments to make a number of business practice changes. With the exception of $6 million payment–which can be seen as relatively small, all things considered–the settlement largely mirrors the CRAs’ March 2015… Read More
CFPB Again Reports on Reports
Posted in CFPB, Credit ReportsJust last week we posted about the CFPB’s report on consumers without credit reports or with limited credit histories. This week, the CFPB has turned its attention to consumers with reports — specialty consumer reports. On its blog, the CFPB explained that specialty consumer reporting agencies compile and sell reports containing various personal data, such… Read More
New CFPB Report Provides Insight into Consumers with Limited Credit Histories
Posted in CFPB, Credit ReportsThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently released a report, Data Point: Credit Invisibles, concluding that 45 million Americans do not have credit histories or have credit histories that are too sparse to generate a credit score. The report explained that consumers without a credit record or a record with insufficient information to assess creditworthiness… Read More
Second Time’s the Charm? Supreme Court Takes Up Landmark FCRA Case to Address Whether Congress Can Create Standing
Posted in CFPB, Credit ReportsZombie or no-injury plaintiffs seeking to represent zombie or no-injury classes are on the rise. In these suits, plaintiff was not injured, and there’s no way to prove who, if anyone, in the class was. Thomas Robins is one of those plaintiffs who brought suit on behalf of a class of similarly situated consumers against… Read More
CFPB Urges SCOTUS: Hands Off That FCRA Holding
Posted in CFPB, Credit ReportsTime to dust off those federal jurisdiction hornbooks! The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Office of the Solicitor General (collectively, “the government”) submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in response to a petition for a writ of certiorari in the closely-watched case Spokeo, Inc. v. Thomas Robins, No. 13-1339. The issue? Standing,… Read More
New York Attorney General and Credit Bureaus Reach Deal Affecting Furnishers of Information to Credit Bureaus
Posted in Credit ReportsThe New York Attorney General announced a settlement with credit bureaus Equifax, Experian and TransUnion regarding credit reporting policies and practices, including methods of addressing inaccuracies identified by consumers. In addition to changes to the credit bureaus’ error resolution practices, the settlement also requires the credit bureaus to analyze and monitor the performance of furnishers,… Read More
New CFPB Procedure: Credit Reporting Agencies Must Report and Take Action On Furnishers
Posted in CFPB, Credit ReportsOn December 11, 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a major change related to its monitoring of furnishers involved in credit reporting. The CFPB introduced a new requirement that “major credit reporting companies,” as part of ongoing examinations, must now provide regular reports concerning the accuracy of the furnishers providing them with consumer… Read More