On February 6, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a Statement of Policy Regarding Prohibition on Abusive Acts or Practices to “convey and foster greater certainty” regarding how it will apply the “abusiveness” standard in exercising its sweeping UDAAP authority under the Dodd-Frank Act. This is a welcome move by the Bureau, which previously… Read More
Category Archives: UDAAP
Subscribe to UDAAP RSS FeedFinancial 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
Leading on Leads? CFPB Takes Action Against Online Lead Aggregators
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement Actions, Payday Lending, Privacy, UDAAPOn September 6, 2017, the CFPB announced that it has taken action against an online lead aggregator. The allegations revolved around the company’s selling personal information of consumers who were interested in small-dollar or installment loans to online lenders. It was alleged that the loans ultimately offered to consumers were, or were likely to be, void… 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
FDIC Action Is a Reminder that Bank Partnerships Are Not a Panacea for Non-Banks
Posted in Enforcement Actions, UDAAPOn May 11, 2017, the FDIC announced that it had reached settlements with Bank of Lake Mills and two of its “institution-affiliated parties””—Freedom Stores, Inc. and Military Credit Services, LLC—for allegedly engaging in unfair and deceptive practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. Read our client alert.
CFPB Files Suit Challenging Tribal-Affiliated Lenders Using its UDAAP Authority
Posted in CFPB, UDAAPOn April 27, 2017, the CFPB filed a complaint in a federal district court in Illinois against four online tribal-affiliated lenders alleging that the lenders violated the Truth in Lending Act, and engaged in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices. The CFPB is seeking injunctive relief and damages against the online lenders. Read our… Read More
Court Finds CFPB Case Against Payment Processor Lacking
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement Actions, UDAAPOn March 17, 2017 the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota granted the motion of Intercept Corporation and its senior executives to dismiss the complaint filed almost a year ago by the CFPB. Intercept is a payment processor that initiates ACH transactions to consumer accounts on behalf of its merchant-customers. This… Read More
Financial Services Report – Winter 2016
Posted in Arbitration, Auto Lending, CFPB, Credit Cards, Disparate Impact, Electronic Payments, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, Foreclosure, Military Issues, Mobile Payments, Mortgage, Payday Lending, Preemption, Privacy, Regulatory Developments, State Regulators, UDAAPHope you survived all of those awkward Thanksgiving holiday conversations—amazing how divided people are on whether the court got it right in the PHH case, isn’t it? So on we go into the holiday season, while visions of Dodd-Frank repeal dance in our heads. No long winter’s nap for the CFPB, not with the inauguration… 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
FTC Announces FinTech Forum on Crowdfunding, Peer-to-Peer Payments
Posted in Events, Mobile Payments, UDAAPOn August 3, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released two items in connection with its series of events on the implications of FinTech for consumers. First, the FTC announced it will be hosting the next event in the FinTech Forum series on October 26, 2016. The event will address crowdfunding and peer-to-peer payments. Second,… Read More
What You Need to Know Now About the CFPB’s Debt Collection Proposal
Posted in CFPB, Regulatory Developments, UDAAPOn July 28, 2016, the CFPB issued its outline of proposals under consideration for the regulation of debt collection. This 117-page release, entitled “Small Business Review Panel for Debt Collector and Debt Buyer Rulemaking: Outline of Proposals Under Consideration and Alternatives Considered” (“Outline”), was announced in connection with the CFPB’s field hearing on debt collection… Read More
A Closer Look at the CFPB’s Proposed Short-Term Lending Rule
Posted in CFPB, Payday Lending, Regulatory Developments, UDAAPAs we previously reported in our June 3, 2016 client alert, the CFPB has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for short-term loans. In this follow-up alert, we take a closer look at the Proposed Rule and its implications for consumer lending generally. Although the Proposed Rule is often characterized as a “payday loan rule,”… Read More
ACH Debit Transactions – Whose Agent Are You?
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement Actions, UDAAPTucked away in a seeming innocuous paragraph in a complaint, the CFPB has asserted an extraordinary and potentially far-reaching expansion of its authority. On June 6, 2016, the CFPB filed an action in a U.S. district court asserting that Intercept Corporation (Intercept) (and each of its owners) engaged in unfair acts and practices in violation… Read More
The CFPB’s Payday Lending Rulemaking is Here With Sweeping Implications for the Short-Term Credit Industry
Posted in CFPB, Payday Lending, Regulatory Developments, UDAAPOn June 2, 2016, the CFPB released its long-anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Proposed Rule”) on short-term lending. Although the rulemaking has been characterized as the “payday loan rule,” it is sweeping in terms of the products covered and the limitations it would impose on the short-term consumer lending industry generally. The Proposed Rule is… 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
Is the CFPB the New Cop on the Data Security Beat?
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement Actions, Privacy, UDAAPOn March 2, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) broke new ground (at least for the CFPB) when it released a consent order against Dwolla, Inc., an online payment platform, regarding data security. While in many respects the data security “message” sent by the CFPB is not a new one (e.g., companies must live up to… Read More
The CFPB & UDAAP: A “Know It When You See It” Standard? 2015 Year-End Update
Posted in CFPB, UDAAPThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) exercise of its sweeping authority to prohibit unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) continues to command the attention of financial institutions and financial services companies regulated by the agency. As promised by CFPB Director Richard Cordray, the CFPB has defined UDAAP primarily through enforcement actions, along with… Read More
CFPB Argues Statute of Limitations Not Applicable in Certain UDAAP Actions
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement Actions, Mortgage, UDAAPOn January 15, 2016, the CFPB filed a brief opposing a motion to dismiss in the Matter of Integrity Advance, LLC (“Integrity”) asserting that there is no time bar for certain CFPB actions under its UDAAP authority. The CFPB’s argument cites its own RESPA enforcement action, which is currently on appeal, in contending that the… Read More
#ThrowbackThursday: UDAP Final Rules and Board Regulatory Actions
Posted in Credit Cards, Regulatory Developments, UDAAPOriginally published as a Morrison & Foerster client alert in December 2008. UDAP Final Rules The National Credit Union Administration (“NCUA”) approved a joint final rule addressing unfair or deceptive acts or practices (“UDAP”) relating to credit cards written by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Board”), the Office of Thrift Supervision… Read More
Higher One, Inc. Enforcement Actions Remind Nonbank Service Providers of Their Legal Obligations When Partnering With Banks
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement Actions, UDAAPOn December 23, 2015, the Federal Reserve Board (“Federal Reserve”) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (“FDIC” and, collectively with the Federal Reserve, the “Agencies”) announced settlements with Higher One, Inc. (“Higher One”) for alleged violations of the prohibition against deceptive acts and practices under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. In conjunction… Read More
Financial Services Report – Winter 2015
Posted in Add On Products, Arbitration, Auto Lending, CFPB, Credit Cards, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, Indirect Auto Lending, Military Issues, Mobile Payments, Mortgage, Payday Lending, Privacy, Regulatory Developments, Student Lending, UDAAPWe are a full service newsletter, so we offer these can’t-miss Christmas gift ideas for the hard-to-please. Hoverboards are the “It” gift this season, but what about all the poor souls who don’t own one? We’ve devised a remote that lets you seize control from a distance and slam the thing in reverse, toggle forward,… Read More
WEBINAR: Consumer Protection Provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act: Adjusting to the New Paradigm
Posted in Arbitration, CFPB, Events, Mortgage, Regulatory Developments, UDAAPDecember 3, 2015 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EST Morrison & Foerster partners Nancy Thomas and Angela Kleine will speak on the “Consumer Protection Provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act: Adjusting to the New Paradigm” Lorman webinar on December 3. Click here to register.
CFPB Orders Auto Financer to Pay $48.3M for Misleading Borrowers
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement Actions, Indirect Auto Lending, UDAAPOn September 30, 2015, the CFPB ordered an indirect auto lending company and its auto lending subsidiary to pay $48.3 million in fines for alleged FDCPA, TILA, and UDAAP violations. The CFPB alleges that the companies manipulated borrowers by using phony caller ID information and lying about imminent repossession or criminal charges in order to… Read More
#ThrowbackThursday: CFPB & DOJ Consent Orders with Former GE Capital Retail Bank: Something Old and Something New
Posted in CFPB, Credit Cards, Enforcement Actions, UDAAPIn June 2014, Morrison & Foerster published the client alert, “CFPB & DOJ Consent Orders with Former GE Capital Retail Bank: Something Old and Something New.” Summary: Yesterday, the CFPB announced a $225 million settlement of two major credit card enforcement matters with Synchrony Bank, formerly known as GE Capital Retail Bank. First, the “Add-On… Read More