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2012 is going to be a big year for Fair Lending issues. In late December 2011 the Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into the largest residential fair lending settlement in the agency’s history. The $335 million settlement resulted from the lender charging higher rates and fees to African-American and Hispanic borrowers than non-Hispanic white borrowers. Attorney General Eric Holder has made clear that DOJ is gearing up for additional fair lending suits. DOJ has filed

A volcanologist is a person who studies volcanoes. It must be a frustrating job; one to which I can relate. I guess I am a CFPBologist. I study the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to try to predict when they will erupt. The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) is publishing a final rule to implement section 1073 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), which creates a comprehensive new system of consumer

Congress enacted the Truth in Savings Act (TISA), 12 U.S.C. 4301, based on findings that economic stability would be enhanced, competition between depository institutions would be improved, and consumers’ ability to make informed decisions regarding deposit accounts would be strengthened if there was uniformity in the disclosure of interest rates and fees. The purpose of the act and regulation is to assist consumers in comparing deposit accounts offered by depository institutions, principally through the disclosure of

Several months ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published in its blog two sample closing disclosures that combine final Truth in Lending (TIL) disclosures with HUD-1 disclosures. They requested that consumers and industry members compare two prototypes for the disclosures and vote on the preferred option. Now the CFPB is asking consumers and industry members to look specifically at how the new closing disclosure prototypes work with the application disclosure prototype, which was pretty

On January 19th, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published Short-Term, Small-Dollar Lending (STSD) Procedures – a field guide CFPB examiners will use to make sure payday lenders are following federal consumer financial laws. The procedures are applied to both banks and nonbanks that make payday loans. This development is significant for two reasons: The payday lending market has not been largely unregulated. Now participants in the market will undergo a federal examination. The STSD