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The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was enacted to eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors, to insure that those debt collectors who refrain from using abusive debt collection practices are not competitively disadvantaged, and to promote consistent state action to protect consumers against debt collection abuses. Prior to July 21, 2011, the FDCPA provided that the Federal Trade Commission (Commission) must by regulation exempt from the FDCPA requirements any class of debt

The Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), enacted in 1978, provides a basic framework establishing the rights, liabilities, and responsibilities of participants in electronic fund transfer (EFT) systems. Historically, the EFTA was implemented in Regulation E of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amended a number of consumer financial protection laws, including the EFTA. In addition to various substantive amendments, the

In a speech in Ohio, on Wednesday afternoon President Obama announced that he would install Richard Cordrey as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) through a recess appointment. Last summer the president selected Cordray, a former Ohio attorney general, to direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but Senate Republicans have continued to block a vote on his nomination. GOP lawmakers have argued that the bureau should be accountable to Congress. Republicans are

The Alternate Mortgage Transaction Parity Act (AMTPA) was enacted by Congress in 1982 to stimulate consumer access to credit and increase parity between state and federal creditors during an era of unusually high interest rates. In Senate hearings held in 1981, mortgage bankers testified that laws in 26 states either barred state housing creditors from originating alternative mortgage loans or imposed significantly greater restrictions on such loans than those that applied to federal housing creditors

Lenders reporting HMDA data must complete the “Property Type” field on the Loan Application Register (LAR) to identify the type of property. Options include one-to-four family dwelling (other than manufactured housing), manufactured housing, or multifamily dwelling. The “multifamily dwelling” property type is often misreported due to a lack of understanding of the definition of multifamily dwelling. For HMDA reporting, a multifamily dwelling is a residential structure that houses five or more families. Even though condominium