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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to expand its presence into different businesses, including for-profit colleges. On April 17, 2024, the CFPB issued a consent order against a for-profit college for computer programming. According to the consent order, the school “offers training...

On November 21, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved a resolution allowing it to use “compulsory process in nonpublic investigations involving certain products and services that use or claim to be produced using artificial intelligence (AI) or claim to detect its use.” This allows the...

On October 31, 2023, a Missouri jury awarded the plaintiff class in Sitzer/Burnett v. Nar, et al a $1.78 billion damages verdict against several real estate brokerage companies and the National Association of Realtors, based on a finding that the defendants conspired to fix commission being paid by...

I. Introduction: On October 3, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court held oral argument in Community Financial Services Association of America Ltd. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This case has potentially widespread implications for the consumer finance industry, as it challenges the...

In September, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued guidance on compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act’s adverse action notice requirements for lenders utilizing artificial intelligence in their credit decision process. Specifically, the Bureau noted that lenders may not rely...

On March 7, 2023 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (the “HUD”) Secretary, Marcia L. Fudge, issued a public memorandum (the “Memo”) expressing concern over a lack of transparency in fees charged to residential tenants. The Memo calls on housing providers and state and local...

On February 28, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a Request for Information (“RFI”) seeking public comment on background screening issues affecting rental housing applicants and tenants in the United States. The 10-page RFI, which the...

​In Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection v. Townstone Financial, Inc . , the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) brought suit against Townstone, a mortgage broker/lender, and its co-founder and chief executive, Barry Sturner (“Sturner”) for alleged violations of the Equal Credit...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to augmentation of the administrative record following new rationales, attempted alternative ERISA causes of action, untimely ERISA claims, plans governed by ERISA even in the absence of a written plan document, and the limited weight given to residual...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to the interpretation of time periods for claims under life insurance and disability plans, a situation where three separate administrators handled a disability benefits claim (but came to different decisions), the Eleventh Circuit’s parsing of...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) is grappling with determining the most effective means of regulating the buy now pay later industry. BNPL allows a consumer to obtain a product or services immediately at the time of purchase and to make installment payments on the purchase over time...

It is not a good thing for a litigant when an esteemed United States District Judge begins a decision with a statement such as the following: As the court has repeatedly told defendants … this case has generated more meritorious motions to compel and for sanctions against defendants for failure to...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to interpretation of ambiguous policy terms, evaluation of claimant’s expert witness, inclusion of law firms as appropriate parties from whom plan administrators may seek equitable relief, transfer of cases from the claimant’s choice of venue, and...

This month’s Friday Five addresses cases considering: (1) whether monetary relief in the amount of lost benefits is an available remedy for breach of fiduciary duty; (2) the validity of an ex-spouse’s beneficiary designation that contradicts a subsequent divorce decree; (3) if waiver of a pre...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to interpretation of regulatory deadlines, the enforceability of discretionary clauses, circuit courts going both ways on appeals from summary judgment rulings in favor of plans, and a benefits award for a former professional football player where the...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to an award of attorney’s fees (but not) costs, class certification in an ERISA benefits case, a court finding that a physician claimant was disabled from his own occupation, a claimant paying into insurance he thinks he has, and an insurance company...

This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to a claimant’s second chance when a lawyer misses a court deadline, whether certain voluntary benefits fall within a broader ERISA plan, a court deciding that an insurer was “probably not wrong,” judicial reconsideration to mold the time period for...