The number of enforcement actions undertaken by state and federal regulators in 2018 was 52% less than the number from 2017 and 64% less than 2016, according to a report issued yesterday by the law firm of Goodwin Procter.
All of the agencies mentioned in the report — the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Housing & Urban Development, the Department of Justice, and state Attorneys General — had fewer enforcement actions in 2018 than a year earlier. At HUD, for example, the number of enforcement actions dropped to one in 2018, from 22 in 2016. At the CFPB, the number dropped to 17 in 2018, from 50 in 2016. At the state level, there were 32 enforcement actions 2018, down from 70 in 2017.
Debt collection and debt settlement represented the category that had the most enforcement actions — 30 — followed by mortgages (22), and payday/small dollar lending (12). On a monetary basis, debt collection enforcement actions finished fourth with $251 million in penalties, well behind mortgages, auto finance, and credit cards. The $251 million was down from $260 million in enforcement fines that were assessed in 2017.
Of the 30 enforcement actions brought in 2018, the FTC was responsible for more than half of them, followed by the CFPB.
“As we look ahead to the rest of 2019, there are several key areas we’re watching. One is privacy and data security given Congress’ signals that it will remain at the top of their agenda,” said Sabrina Rose-Smith, a Goodwin partner and a co-author of the report, in a statement. “The outcome of the renewed litigation against the OCC for accepting FinTech Charter applications is also going to have major implications for banks and Fintech firms.”
Goodwin expects enforcement activity to continue to decrease in 2019. One area that may see an uptick in enforcement activity are states in which a Democrat was elected to be attorney general, replacing a Republican. Those states include Michigan, Colorado, Nevada, and Wisconsin. The three states that were the most active in 2018 were all led by attorneys general who are Democrats, the report noted.
