The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today announced its final rule requiring the removal of medical bills from credit reports and barring lenders from using consumers’ medical information in their lending decisions. The Fair Credit Reporting Act already limits a creditor’s ability to obtain or use a consumer’s medical information in connection with any determination of […]
Author Archives: Christine Hines
The Federal Trade Commission today issued a final rule on junk fees. Under the rule, businesses that offer live-event tickets or short-term lodging must clearly and conspicuously disclose the total price at the time they offer, display, or advertise their tickets or stays. This removes the possibility of surprise fees and charges that ticket buyers […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued a final rule to cap most overdraft fees at $5 for checking accounts offered by the largest banks with over $10 billion in assets. The bureau estimates the rule will save consumers up to $5 billion a year. The rule aims to close a loophole in the regulations […]
For two decades airlines have used and profited from their “unbundling” strategy—charging separately for individual products and services that were once included in the price of a plane ticket. Just in time for the holidays, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, chair of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), last week released a Majority staff report […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week issued a final rule to define larger players in the market of “general-use digital consumer payment applications.” Under the rule, the bureau institutes supervisory authority over large nonbank payment app providers to assess their compliance with consumer financial laws. This covers apps that are used for consumers’ general use […]
More American households are accessing the banking system. According to an FDIC survey released this month, 96 percent of all U.S. households had bank accounts in 2023. The survey, conducted biennially with the U.S. Census Bureau, found little difference between 2023 and the previous 2021 data, but showed a marked improvement from the 2011 survey […]
The Federal Trade Commission reported Friday that complaints about unwanted calls are dropping – and they have been doing so for three straight years. Complaints of unwanted calls reported in 2024 decreased more than 50% from the complaints recorded in 2021 (5 million+ complaints in 2021 to ~2 million in 2024), according to FTC’s Do […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today announced its final rule on personal financial data rights under section 1033 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act. According to the bureau’s release, the rule will enable consumers to “fire fintechs and banks that provide lousy service” by enabling transfer of bank data to other banks; “shop for better […]
In its recently released Supervisory report, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau highlights unfair (and abusive) acts and practices in auto financing. In this sector, the CFPB says its Supervision pays particular attention to auto repossessions, where it found numerous unfair acts and practices. Among them, the bureau found that a servicer or servicers erroneously repossessed […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau just announced that it ordered TD Bank to pay $28 million in fines and in consumer redress over the bank’s credit reporting practices. It is the CFPB’s second enforcement action against TD Bank. “For years, the bank repeatedly shared inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies. The […]