Legislation

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1737 ("Reforming CFPB Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Act"), designed to repeal the CFPB's March 2013 bulletin covering indirect auto finance. The Bill "declares without force or effect Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Bulletin 2013-02 (Indirect Auto Lending and Compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act), published March 21, 2013" and "amends… Read More

The Fair Debt Buying Practices Act of 2013 (Senate Bill 233) was signed by Governor Brown last month.  The Act will apply to debts sold or resold on or after Jan. 1, 2014. Purpose: The Act will regulate the activities of persons and entities that purchase delinquent or charged-off consumer debt by requiring specific documentation to be maintained by the industry. … Read More

The California Department of Corporations proposed new Finance Lender Law regulations.  Attached are copies of the CDC Notice of Rulemaking Action re CFLL Regulation, CDC Statement of Reason re CFLL Regulation, and CDC Text of Proposed CFLL Regulations.   Licensees have an opportunity to provide comments which are due no later than 5 PM, January 28, 2013.  A request for a hearing may also be made in writing… Read More

Governor Brown signed AB 1534, requiring BHPH car dealers to affix FMV stickers to used vehicles offered for sale.  The chaptered legislation is here and the Assembly Analysis is here. Read More

Governor Brown signed AB 1447 and 1534, two of the three pending bills regarding buy-here, pay-here (BHPH) dealers.  Under AB 1447, such dealers must provide 30-day, 1,000-mile warranties and can not use electronic tracking devices or disable vehicles with starter interrupt technology unless they meet certain disclosure requirements. AB 1534 requires dealers to prominently and conspicuously post the reasonable market… Read More

California state senator Tom Lieu (D-Torrance) introduced SB 956 yesterday, that would require Buy Here Pay Here car dealers to be regulated by the Department of Corporations as lenders. A companion bill (AB 1447) introduced last week by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) would require Buy Here Pay Here dealers to display vehicle sales prices and would block dealers from using GPS… Read More

 The National Association of Attorneys General submitted a letter brief opposing the Mobile Informational Call Act (HR 3035) that would make amendments to the TCPA.  NAAG HR 3035 letter Read More

The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on Friday, November 4, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building on “H.R. 3035, The Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011.”  The link below includes a video of the testimony, a Background Memo and an Opening statement from Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden. Read More

Yesterday, the FCC issued an Order implementing the Truth-in-Caller-ID Act, here.  The FCC's press release explained:   Increasingly, bad actors are altering or manipulating caller ID information—known as caller ID spoofing—to further a wide variety of malicious schemes, from identity theft to placing false emergency calls to SWAT teams.  Using spoofing services accessible through the web or prepaid cards, anyone can… Read More

AB 125, the final enrolled version can be found here, was enrolled and presented to the Governor, and signed into law.  According to the Assembly Analysis, SB 125 does the following:   ANALYSIS  :    Existing law (1) defines guaranteed automobile protections insurance" to be insurance that covers a  vehicle purchaser or lessee for the difference between the actual cash value… Read More

SB 890 originally had been a short bill designed to require debt collectors , when suing, to produce documentation that evidences that the debt collector is attempting to collect from the right person, for the right amount, on a debt that the debt collector can lawfully recover.  Yesterday, On March 24, the Legislature amended the Bill to purportedly create the… Read More

AB 125 was designed to "rectify a drafting error in AB 2782 (Insurance Committee), Chapter 400, Statutes of 2010, an omnibus bill sponsored by the California Department of Insurance.  In the effort to recognize in statute, and formalize the differences between true insurance products, and waiver provisions in loans, leases and sales contracts, what has long been marketed as GAP products, the drafters inadvertently eliminated… Read More

The Summary, found here, states in part that "Through its consumer protection goal, the FTC focuses its efforts on fighting consumer fraud, deception, and unfair practices, and protecting consumer data and privacy.  Agency law enforcement actions will continue to target deceptive and other illegal practices involving mortgage lending, debt collection, and other financial services. These practices can have severe consequences… Read More

The Federal Trade Commission issued its annual report to the Federal Reserve Board on FTC enforcement activities regarding the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), Consumer Leasing Act, and Truth in Lending Act. This year’s report also discusses FTC activities under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, such as enforcement of new EFTA requirements… Read More

The Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010 narrows the definition of the term “creditor” to include only entities that that use consumer reports, furnish information to consumer reporting agencies, or to others who extend credit.  More specifically, it amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act, with respect to federal agency (red flag) guidelines regarding identity theft and the users of consumer… Read More

The California Legislature enacted AB 2782, which purports to align the definition of "Credit Insurance Agent" in the Insurance Code with the definition used in the National Association of Insurance Companies (NAIC) Producer Licensing Model Act (PLMA). The PLMA definition permits these credit insurance agents to transact Guaranteed Automobile Protection (GAP) insurance -- insurance which protects a car buyer/lessee with… Read More

In the context of debt collection, non-disclosure, blocking, or misrepresentation through telephone caller identification equipment has received attention from the FTC and courts. For example, one FTC complaint pleaded: 19. In numerous instances, including in connection with newly-acquired loans, [collector] has made collection calls to borrowers repeatedly and with excessive frequency under the circumstances. In addition, in numerous instances, [collector]… Read More

Sen. Franken just introduced the "End Debt Collector Abuse Act of 2010", a copy of which is here.  As a general proposition, the bill would (1) prohibit a request by a debt collector to have a warrant issued for the rest of any debtor, (2) add new debt validation notice requirements, (3) add new validation requirements in response to a… Read More

2010 HR 4173 Read More

In support of their efforts to consolidate consumer protection enforcement in one agency, consumer advocates prepared a nifty little  chart for Congress setting out the hodge-podge of administrative agency enforcement of consumer protection. Read More