The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) today launched an investigation into whether student-loan debt-relief companies operating in California are engaging in illegal conduct under the new California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) and Student Loan Servicing Act (SLSA). The DFPI also issued a formal action against one such company, Optima Advocates, Inc., which took money from struggling student-loan borrowers while falsely claiming the company could get the student-loan debt dismissed.
“Student-loan borrowers seeking help with repayment deserve protection from predatory debt-relief scams,” said DFPI Commissioner Manuel P. Alvarez. “This action holds Optima Advocates accountable for its deceptive practices and will bring relief to those having a hard time repaying their student loans.”
California’s New Mini-CFPB Law Largely Parallels Its Federal Cousin By Brian Casey and Jon Gillum | February 5, 2021
California recently adopted significant amendments to its financial code, resulting in what is now known as the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CFPL), or colloquially as the California “mini-CFPB” Act. The California CFPL substantially mimics the federal Consumer Financial Protection Act, which was a key part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).
The federal Dodd-Frank Act, through its Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as the primary federal regulator of consumer financial products and services that are not overseen by another federal functional regulator. The California CFPL has renamed the state’s Department of Business Oversight as the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI
California’s Version of the CFPB Is Investigating a Dozen Debt Collectors And This is Just the Start Published on: 1 February 2021 at 09:00 a.m. ET Feb. 1, 2021, 9 a.m. Feb. 1, 2021, 9:28 a.m. insideARM.com The iA Institute
http://www.insidearm.com/news/00047029-californias-version-cfpb-investigating-do/
This article first appeared on Squire Patton Boggs Consumer Privacy World blog and is reprinted here with permission from the author.
With Democrats in control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, consumer financial services companies are understandably anxious about the regulatory environment.
Last week, the newly-empowered California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (the “DFPI”) gave us a sense of what to expect when it
To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog:
The law creating a new California mini-CFPB took effect on January 1, 2021, and a few weeks later, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) entered into “first-of-their kind” memoranda of understanding (MOUs), by which the DFPI will regulate earned wage access (EWA) products offered by five companies in California. These MOUs follow the CFPB’s issuance of an advisory opinion for EWA products, but they go much further in imposing pricing limitations and reporting and examination obligations for products that the DFPI gained authority to regulate under the new California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL). These MOUs, along with the CFPB’s advisory opinion, signal creation of regulatory guardrails for previously unregulated products. They also reflect the DFPI’s continued focus on capping interest rates for financial products offered in California.
Advertisement
California’s Version of the CFPB Is Investigating a Dozen Debt Collectors And this is Just the Start Friday, January 29, 2021
With Democrats in control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, consumer financial services companies are understandably anxious about the regulatory environment.
Last week, the newly-empowered California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (the “DFPI”) gave us a sense of what to expect when it announced an investigation into 12 debt collectors that it alleged were engaged in unlawful, unfair, deceptive, or abusive debt collection practices. The DFPI licenses and regulates a wide variety of parties involved in providing or servicing consumer financial products and services in California. The DFPI has existed since 2013, but was known as the Department of Business Oversight until 2020, when it was renamed and granted significantly enhanced oversight and enforcement powers by the California