Category: CFPB

Dorsey partner Jenny Lee was quoted today in a Bloomberg BNA article examining the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s evolving approach to supervision under acting Director Mick Mulvaney.

American Banker quoted Dorsey & Whitney partner Jenny Lee in an article reporting on the legal community’s response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s latest semiannual report to Congress. Lee noted that the report’s focus on “credit invisibles” (consumers who have little or no access to credit) and their overlap with users of payday and installment loans suggests that the Bureau will seek to facilitate access to credit going forward.

The D.C. Circuit’s reversal of the FCC’s pronouncements as to “the precise functions that a device must have capacity to perform for it to be considered an ATDS,” will likely prove to be the most consequential aspect of the court’s opinion in the ACA International appeal. ACA Int’l v. FCC, No. 15-1211, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 6535 at *9 (D.C. Cir. Mar. 16, 2018) (“ACA Int’l”). The decision gives the FCC a blank slate to take a fresh look at this issue, and there is potential for big changes on the horizon.

American Banker quoted Dorsey & Whitney partner Jenny Lee in an article reporting on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new strategic plan. The article observes how the CFPB’s February 12, 2018 plan dropped all mention of “unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices” from the Bureau’s vision statement, suggesting that Mick Mulvaney will de-emphasize actions against regulated entities for so-called UDAAP violations.

On January 31, the D.C. Circuit issued a plurality opinion confirming the constitutionality of the CFPB governance by a sole Director, while reinstating the decision below that struck down the CFPB’s $109 million disgorgement demand in the underlying dispute. Moving forward, the decision puts the spotlight on several important issues for those interested in the CFPB’s activities.

Many observers have reported on leadership changes at the CFPB and the potential shifts in policy priorities that may follow. However, in the new year, among the most interesting actions taken by the CFPB is the in-court opposition to a credit union with respect to an issue related to an overdraft policy and Regulation E-related evidence.

The National Law Journal quoted Jenny Lee, partner at Dorsey & Whitney, in an article entitled, “What Lawyers Are Saying About Richard Cordray’s CFPB Departure Plans.”

The constitutionality of the CFPB continues to be an issue in cases involving that agency. The latest party to raise the “CFPB is unconstitutional” defense is a law firm, Seila Law, LLC, which is attempting to evade a civil investigative demand seeking information relating to the CFPB’s litigation against debt relief firm Morgan Drexel Inc. and its affiliates.

In a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau action against a mortgage services company, its subsidiary, and its founder, a California district judged denied an award of $73.9 million in restitutionary relief, and imposed a civil money penalty for a fraction of that amount.