Financial institutions are not happy about the CFPB’s announcement that it will begin posting the narratives of some consumer complaints in June. When the CFPB first proposed the idea last summer, banks and industry groups made several arguments against public complaint posting: the content of the complaints is unverified, complaints describe only negative – not … Continue Reading
On March 9, District Judge Sarah Evans Barker issued her long-anticipated order on the motion to dismiss in CFPB v. ITT Educational Services, Inc., No. 1:14-cv-00292 (S.D. Ind.). Judge Barker denied ITT’s motion to dismiss the Bureau’s unfairness and abusiveness claims but granted it on the Bureau’s TILA claim. At 67 pages, the order provides … Continue Reading
On March 10, Director Richard Cordray of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“Bureau” or “CFPB”) presided over a Field Hearing on Pre-Dispute Arbitration Clauses, discussing what he described as the “key findings” of the Bureau’s long-awaited 700-page Arbitration Report to Congress published earlier that morning. Reed Smith attorney Deepa Zavatsky attended the hearing, where Cordray … Continue Reading
Last week, former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Enforcement Counsel Nicholas Smyth joined Reed Smith's Financial Industry Group, bringing expertise on the CFPB's approach to mortgage lending, auto lending, student lending, debt collection, credit reporting, and military lending.
Smyth brings an insider's knowledge of the federal government's fastest-growing and increasingly feared agency. He was one of the longest-serving attorneys at the CFPB prior to joining the Firm, and he helped build the agency's Office of Servicemember Affairs and Office of Enforcement.… Continue Reading
Len Bernstein, chair of Reed Smith’s Financial Services Regulatory Group and Managing Partner of the firm’s Philadelphia office, was recently quoted by the Legal Intelligencer regarding the extensive preparation regulatory lawyers and the mortgage industry have done to assist mortgage lenders and servicers in dealing with the changes in the regulatory landscape largely effective in … Continue Reading
On August 14, 2013, the former manager of an Allentown, Pennsylvania, mortgage loan origination company was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $979,562.20 in connection with a mortgage fraud conspiracy. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (the “USAO”), the former general manager of … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Kenneth M. Kolaski. In a recent press release, the CFPB indicated that it may consider subjecting creditors to the requirements of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act that are statutorily exempt. On July 10, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued two important bulletins on debt collection, published … Continue Reading
Our colleague in the Financial Industry Group, Colleen H. McDonald, recently wrote about a Guidance issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on mortgage servicing transfers. With the new mortgage servicing rules under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Regulation X) (RESPA) scheduled to go into effect January 10, 2014, the CFPB’s decision to … Continue Reading
On Wednesday, April 3, 2013, Leonard A. Bernstein and Robert M. Jaworski will be speaking at the Pennsylvania Bankers Association’s (PBA) Mortgage Regulation Revolution Seminar at Harrisburg Country Club. This presentation will provide an overview of the explosion of new residential mortgage regulations from the CFPB in January 2013, similar to recent teleseminars we held … Continue Reading
Direct from Baltimore: I just walked out of Westminster Hall in Baltimore, Maryland where I attended the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB”) field hearing where the CFPB announced the issuance of its “ability to repay rule,” a rule required by the Dodd-Frank Act and designed to ensure that prospective borrowers have the ability to repay … Continue Reading
