On Monday October 12, 2015, Professor Angus Deaton won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science. What lessons does Professor Deaton’s work hold with respect to the regulation of the consumer finance industry?
The U.S. Department of Education is continuing to move forward with issuing new regulations regarding the “Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule,” which concerns the ability of a Direct Loan borrower to seek a discharge of a Direct Loan repayment obligations if the educational services provided by a college were in some way deficient. These amendments are potentially important not only to borrowers, but also to colleges and the loan servicing industry.
Does the roommate of a telephone subscriber have standing to sue for an alleged violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act? Surprisingly, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the answer is “yes.”
This new article co-authored by Dorsey partner Melissa Krasnow discusses the Canadian and U.S. compliance regimes regarding spam emails, text messages, and other spam communications. Consumer finance entities should be familiar with these rules, given the potential implications of these rules for communications with potential and current borrowers.
On October 2, 2015, the City of New York moved to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the City of unlawfully perpetuating racial segregation in the housing industry. The arguments made by the City offer an important insight into the City Law Department’s view on the Fair Housing Act and disparate impact claims.
Dorsey partner Eric Epstein and Dorsey associate Augustine Lo wrote this recent article for The Real Estate Finance Journal regarding the new amendments to the HMDA regulation, Regulation C.
If a federal agency conducts a CRA audit and finds that a lender’s conduct is compliant with federal law, is the CFPB barred from subsequently alleging that the same conduct violates federal law?
Are contractual arbitration clauses harmful to consumers of financial products and services? The CFPB appears to think so. But is the CFPB’s view empirically or legally well-founded?
The CFPB recently added a new feature to its Consumer Complaint Database: namely, consumers now have the option to publish “narratives” detailing their allegations against a company. The problem lies in the possibility that these hearsay “narratives” will be used against companies in connection with enforcement actions or lawsuits.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) provides that, if a “debt collector” makes an “initial communication with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt,” the debt collector must provide the consumer with certain information, such as the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor, and the consumer’s right to dispute the debt. See 15 U.S.C. § 1692g(a). However, the statute does not elaborate on the meaning of the phrase “in connection with the collection of any debt.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently flagged a Section 1692g(a) tripwire.
The Eighth Circuit’s recent decision in Beukes suggests two key take-away lessons regarding a lender’s options if the lender disputes the borrower’s right to rescind.
A recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York concludes that the manner in which Administrative Law Judges (“ALJs”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) are appointed is improper under the Appointments Clause of Article II of the Constitution. The decision is important to the consumer finance industry for several reasons discussed in this article.
In Texas Dep’t of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, 135 S. Ct. 2507 (2015), the Supreme Court held that disparate impact claims are legally cognizable under the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”). Is this reasoning applicable to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”)?
Joe LynyakJoe is a partner in the Firm’s Finance & Restructuring Group and a member of the Ban...
Scott GoldsmithScott brings the tenacity of a former prosecutor to his representation of clients in high-st...