What Happened? Immediately following President Biden’s State of the Union Address announcing plans to lower homebuyer and refinancing costs, the CFPB issued a blog post seeking public input on how mortgage closing costs impact consumers. The CFPB also announced that it will work to monitor closing costs and, “as necessary, issue rules and guidance to improve […]
UDAAP
A Friendly Reminder of the Importance of Robust Consumer Complaint Handling Processes
What Happened? On February 27, 2024, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (the Department) entered into a public consent order with a company that provides consumer financial services to California residents. The consent order alleges that between January 2020 and September 2022, the Department received complaints from consumers raising concerns about their accounts […]
CFPB’s Proposed Insufficient Fund Fee Rule – Narrow in Scope with Potential for Greater Impact
What Happened? On January 24, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued a proposed rule that would prohibit covered financial institutions from imposing a nonsufficient funds (NSF) fee when consumers initiate transactions that are instantaneously or near instantaneously declined (the Proposed Rule). According to the CFPB, such fees are not based on the […]
CFPB Touts 2023 Greatest Hits and Casts a Line for Enforcement Hires
What Happened? Earlier this week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) released a blog post touting its 2023 successes in safeguarding “household financial stability” through the levying of fines and filing of lawsuits. The Bureau highlighted seven enforcement cases: Protecting Servicemembers from Illegal High-Interest Loans and False Advertising: In February 2023, the CFPB ordered an […]
Assumptions on the Rise: Are You Ready for Mortgage Assumptions?
A&B ABstract: Mortgage assumptions – where a buyer assumes the existing mortgage loan of a seller – have fluctuated in popularity since the 1980s. However, inflation and the high interest rate environment, coupled with an observable shift to a buyer’s market, are raising the prospect that assumable mortgages – especially those with historically low interest […]