Compliance

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer [R-Mo.] has proposed legislation aimed at finally putting an end to Operation Choke Point by establishing a clear set of guidelines under which a federal regulator can order a financial institution to close the accounts of a client. Rep. Luetkemeyer has been a vocal opponent of Operation …

The Supreme Court yesterday heard arguments in a case that seeks to define what constitutes a “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, in relation to whether law firms engaging in non-judicial disclosures meet the definition under the statute. Published reports indicated that the eight justices who heard …

Eric Rosenkoetter from Maurice Wutscher has published an article alerting the credit and collection industry to a new law that will go into effect in New York in March that clarifies how collectors and creditors can attempt to collect debts from deceased individuals. The bill, SB 3491A, was signed into …

The New York Department of Financial Services and the Attorney General of New York announced on Friday that Conduent Education Services has agreed to pay $9 million in fines and penalties for “engaging in practices” that harmed student loan borrowers, including misinforming them that they had to pay the delinquent …

The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has upheld a lower court’s ruling granting summary judgment in favor of an insurance company that did not cover a client that was accused of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. A copy of the ruling in American Family Mutual Insurance Company …

The Attorney General of Washington plans to push forward with a plan to enact new laws that would change how debt collectors serve individuals who are being sued for unpaid debts. Bills have been proposed in both houses of the state legislature that would require collectors file a lawsuit with …

Lost in the holiday shuffle was a report from the General Accountability Office detailing how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lacks a standardized and agency-wide process for prioritizing financial risks to consumers and how it uses the tools at its disposal to address them. The CFPB began such a process …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau assessed $15.5 million in fines and penalties against USAA Federal Savings Bank yesterday for allegedly failing to honor requests from customers to stop payments on preauthorized electronic funds transfers and failing to initiate and complete error resolution investigations. It was the agency’s first public enforcement …

A student loan servicer has won summary judgment after it was accused of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by using an automated telephone dialing system to contact the plaintiff. A copy of the ruling in Collins v. National Student Loan Program can be accessed by clicking here. During the …

A federal judge in Illinois has granted summary judgment in favor of a defendant that was sued for allegedly violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because it included a column for Fees and Collection Costs in a letter even though neither was being added to the account. A copy …