Consumer Financial Services

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In 2024, the landscape of state attorneys general (AGs) is poised for significant change, with numerous elections and regulatory actions reshaping priorities and enforcement strategies. This dynamic environment reflects the critical role AGs play in addressing key issues across various sectors, from environmental regulations and consumer protection to health care and privacy. As state AGs continue to influence policy and legal frameworks, their actions will have far-reaching implications for businesses and consumers alike. Troutman Pepper’s State AG team is pleased to provide you with this mid-year review summarizing the activities in this regulatory space over the past six months.Continue Reading 2024 Mid-Year Review: State AGs Shaping Regulatory Landscapes

On April 15, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed the Commerce Policy Omnibus bill, which includes key provisions of the Minnesota Debt Fairness Act. Minnesota AG Keith Ellison supports this bill and celebrated its passage.Continue Reading Minnesota House Passes Key Provisions of Debt Fairness Act

On January 11, Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Andrea Joy Campbell announced a $1.8 million settlement with Nelnet, Inc. (Nelnet), one of the largest federal student loan servicers in the U.S., for allegedly sending written notices to borrowers about renewing income-driven repayment (IDR) plans that failed to meet certain regulatory requirements and, in some cases, failing to send the required notices altogether.Continue Reading Massachusetts AG Settles With Major Student Loan Servicer for $1.8M Over Faulty Notices

On November 3, Colorado Attorney General (AG) Phil Weiser announced that his office reached a settlement with Touchstone Partners, Inc. (Touchstone), a noted debt management company. The AG’s allegations were that Touchstone had violated the Colorado Debt Management Services Act (C.R.S. § 5-19-201 et seq.).

Continue Reading Colorado AG Settles With Debt Management Company Over Failure to Provide Customers With Signed Agreements

On October 16, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations (the Division) released its 2024 Examination Priorities report. The report highlights that future examinations will focus on “risk areas impacting various market participants,” emphasizing risks posed by products and services: (1) related to cryptocurrency; and (2) that leverage emerging technology. In addition, the report indicates that examinations will focus on market participants’ compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws.

Continue Reading SEC Targets Cryptocurrency, Emerging Technologies, and Anti-Money Laundering for 2024 Examination Priorities

On October 17, following Washington Attorney General (AG) Bob Ferguson’s unsuccessful consumer protection action against thrift store chain, Savers Value Village Inc. (Savers), the Washington Superior Court of King County granted Savers’ motion for attorney’s fees and costs in the amount of $4.3 million. This substantial award — which is allowable under the Washington Consumer Protection Act (WA CPA) — represents a substantial recoupment of Savers’ attorneys’ fees spent to defend the almost decade-long litigation.

Continue Reading Washington AG Ordered to Pay $4.3M in Attorney’s Fees and Costs to Thrift Store Chain

On August 16, a coalition of seven state attorneys general (AG) announced a settlement with participants alleged to be involved in a “massive” robocall operation. The stipulated order, which names Scott Shapiro, Michael T. Smith, Jr., and Health Advisors of America (defendants), permanently bans Shapiro and Smith from initiating or facilitating robocalls; working in or with companies that make robocalls; and engaging in telemarketing. The settlement also requires the defendants to make monetary payments to the coalition, which is comprised of AGs from the states of Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, and Texas (the AGs).Continue Reading Seven State AGs Announce Settlement With Robocallers

A bipartisan coalition of 23 state attorney generals led by Virginia AG Jason Miyares recently went up in arms about a products liability ruling they believe will threaten state consumer protection laws. On May 30, the coalition filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs’ claims in In Re: Fosamax (Alendronate Sodium) Products Liability Litigation, a consolidated case where hundreds of plaintiffs claimed to suffer femur fractures as a result of taking Merck drug Fosamax.Continue Reading State AGs Choose Products Liability Case as Battleground for State Sovereignty

On May 10, SoLo Funds, Inc. (Solo), one of the largest community lending platforms in the United States, entered into a settlement with the District of Columbia attorney general (OAG). The settlement resolves claims that the company’s lending practices violated D.C. usury law and constituted unfair, deceptive, and/or abusive acts under the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act.Continue Reading DC OAG Resolves Alleged Usury and Deceptive Acts Violations With Community Lending Platform

As discussed here, on December 7, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) made a preliminary conclusion that a New York commercial financing law was not preempted by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). The Bureau indicated it was also considering whether to make a preemption determination regarding similar state laws in California, Utah, and Virginia. On January 20, 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta submitted a letter to the CFPB agreeing with its preliminary determination that California’s Commercial Financing Disclosures Law (CFDL) is not preempted by TILA because the CFDL only applies to commercial financing and not to consumer credit transactions within the scope of TILA. Attorney General Bonta further urged the CFPB to “revisit the Federal Reserve Board’s (Board) vague and overbroad articulation of the TILA preemption standard. The CFPB should articulate a narrower standard that emphasizes that preemption should be limited to situations where it is impossible to comply with both TILA and the state law or where the state law stands as an obstacle to the full purposes TILA, which is to provide consumers with full and meaningful disclosure of credit terms in consumer credit transactions.”Continue Reading California AG Agrees with CFPB’s Preliminary Preemption Determination, Urges Bureau to Further Narrow TILA Preemption