Consumer Finance Report

Back to Basics, Continued—the Refinancing of a Transaction Secured by a Purchase Money Security Interest

February 3, 2021

United States: I wrote just a few weeks ago about the status of a Purchase Money Security Interest (PMSI). See here. I have not yet addressed the ramifications to a creditor in connection with a refinancing of a credit transaction secured by a PMSI.

Back to Basics, Continued—it’s Time to Talk About the CFBP Again

January 27, 2021

United States: President Biden has chosen Rohit Chopra to lead the CFPB. Chopra helped Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren establish the Bureau; and he served as a CFPB assistant director and as student loan ombudsperson after the agency was launched in 2011. He has served as a Federal Trade Commissioner since 2018. The FTC and the CFPB are the nation’s pre-eminent consumer protection agencies.

Back to Basics, Continued - Collecting on Time-Barred Debt

January 20, 2021

United States: One of the more interesting developments in consumer finance law that we have witnessed over the years is the growing responsibility of creditors to protect debtors.

Back to Basics, Continued—So Just What Are the Alternatives to Garnishment? Law Student Exam Answers Offer Some Interesting Ideas

January 13, 2021

United States: I have mentioned in this Blog Series that I teach Consumer Protection as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Alabama Law School. Much of consumer protection these days involves consumer financial protection. That includes most of the laws and regulations that govern consumer finance companies and installment sellers.

Back to Basics, Continued - is It Time to Rethink Home Equity Lending?

January 6, 2021

United States: You may recall that in November of 2019, I wrote a blog addressing the concept of the award of damages when a plaintiff has not suffered injury.

Back to Basics, Continued - What’s the Difference Between a Purchase Money Security Interest and a Non-Purchase Money Security Interest - and Why Does It Matter Anyway?

December 23, 2020

United States: First, both a purchase money security interest (PMSI) and a non-purchase money security interest (non-PMSI) give a creditor “rights” in collateral pledged to the creditor by the debtor to secure repayment of the debtor’s obligation to the creditor.

Back to Basics, Continued—Collection Remedies 101

December 16, 2020

United States: What happens when a customer doesn’t pay? Well, creditors generally have a process that they commence to try to get payment. And, as Coach Saban teaches us, those creditors that create a sound process often achieve the best results.*

Back to Basics, Continued - Truth-in-Lending; Assignee Defenses

December 9, 2020

United States: I want to address one of the complexities of the Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA). You may recall that I started this series with a discussion of credit cost disclosure.

Back to Basics, Continued—I’ve Been Studying-up on the CFPB and the FTC

December 2, 2020

United States: One of the benefits that comes to me by virtue of my teaching Consumer Protection as an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama School of Law is that I am obliged to review the multitude of consumer financial protection laws, rules, and regulations. After all, you can’t teach this stuff to the next generation of lawyers without knowing it reasonably well. I find that my teaching gig gives me a great source of information to cover in this Back to Basics blog. And, today, I want to focus on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Rules and Guides that affect consumer financial protection.

Back to Basics, Continued—it’s Time to Talk About the CFPB Again—the Difference Between Supervision and Enforcement!

November 25, 2020

United States: Do you remember where you were 10 years ago? If you were in the consumer finance business, then chances are that you were in your office trying to digest the changes coming to your business life based on the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act and the creation of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Well, in the words of that great New York Yankee Hall-of-Fame catcher and American philosopher, Yogi Berra, “It’sdéjà vu all over again!”