Krugman: Democrats should not cooperate with Trump on a 10% interest rate credit card cap unless Trump restores the CFPB

Here. Meanwhile, WaPo’s Michelle Singletary calls Trump’s proposal ridiculous and says it’s dead on arrival, saying “If the administration were truly interested in affordability, it would have strengthened the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rather than kneecapping it.” Not surprisingly, the bank trade organizations say the 10% cap would “reduce credit availability and be devastating for millions of […]

Divided 9th Circuit holds TCPA doesn’t apply to video texts

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits “mak[ing] any call . . . using . . . an artificial or prerecorded voice . . . to any telephone number assigned to a . . . cellular telephone service,” or  “initiat[ing] any telephone call to any residential telephone line using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver […]

Trump renews his call for a 10% interest rate cap on credit cards, drawing industry opposition

KEN SWEET and SEUNG MIN KIM have the story for the Associated Press here. The industry argument is that issuers would lose money on higher-risk borrowers at that rate and so would be unwilling to provide credit cards to them. Here’s an excerpt from the article: “A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion […]

American Banker: Vought capitulates to court order, asks for CFPB funding

Here, by Kate Berry (behind paywall but available on Lexis). Excerpt: Last month, District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that Vought‘s refusal to request funding for the CFPB violates an existing injunction. She found that the combined earnings of the Fed means “everything the Federal Reserve earns.” Her order made it clear that a failure to seek […]

Ninth Circuit Requires Proof of Standing for FCRA Unnamed Class Members at Summary Judgment

After James Healy sued Milliman, a company that sells reports containing consumer’s medical histories to third-party insurers, alleging that the reports were inaccurate and violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the district court certified a class of consumers who were the subjects of inaccurate reports.  Milliman moved for partial summary judgment on the grounds that […]

Does ECOA bar discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity?

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act bars discrimination in consumer lending on the basis of sex but does not explicitly apply to sexual orientation or gender identity, as some state laws do. Back in 2021, after the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County interpreting Title VII, the employment discrimination statute, to forbid such discrimination, […]

The Trump administration’s inconsistent positions on whether discrimination is unfair

Regular readers of the blog will know that the Biden CFPB took the position that discrimination is unfair within the meaning of the Consumer Financial Protection Act, the CFPB’s UDAAP statute. After the Chamber of Commerce sued to block that interpretation and won before a Trump-nominated judge, the CFPB appealed. But before the appeal could be […]

Variable APRs tied to U.S. Prime Rate do not violate CARD Act, Ninth Circuit holds

Under the 2009 CARD Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1666i-1, credit card issuers are generally prohibited from increasing annual percentage rates, fees, or finance charges. One exception to this rule, though, is for “an increase in a variable annual percentage rate in accordance with a credit card agreement that provides for changes in the rate according […]

Sixth Circuit allows TCPA class action to proceed where consent cannot be proved on a classwide basis

David Eliiot claims Humana called him numerous times despite not being a Humana customer, and after he informed Humana that it had the wrong number. He brought a class action alleging this violated the TCPA. Humana opposed class certification on the grounds that whether individuals had actually consented to repeated calls was not ascertainable on […]