Although the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) Combating Auto Retail Scams Trade Regulation Rule (“CARS Rule”) on January 27, 2025, the FTC and state attorneys general continue to target the auto sales and lending industries through enforcement actions and legislation. Among those efforts, the California legislature is considering its

Consistent with expectations for lighter regulation under the Trump administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) indicated in a March 26, 2025 court filing that it intends to revoke an Interpretative Rule it issued in May 2024 that would regulate certain Buy Now, Pay Later (“BNPL”) products as credit cards for the purposes of the federal Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”).

As discussed in an earlier Mayer Brown blog post, the Bureau previously issued an Interpretative Rule clarifying that lenders who issue “digital user accounts” that allow consumers to access credit for retail purchases are considered “card issuers” who must comply with additional disclosure and substantive requirements under TILA and its implementing regulation, Regulation Z. Prior to the issuance of the CFPB’s Interpretive Rule, providers of what has become the “core” BNPL product in the US—a closed-end loan that does not bear a finance charge and is repayable in not more than four installments—generally took the position that their activities did not trigger Regulation Z compliance obligations. The Interpretive Rule, however, explained that certain Regulation Z requirements nevertheless apply where a credit card is involved, and characterized “digital user accounts” as credit cards.  The Interpretive Rule followed over three years of market research on the BNPL industry during which the CFPB determined that consumers often used BNPL as a substitute for conventional credit cards, and represented an attempt to close what it characterized as a regulatory loophole, notwithstanding various ways in which typical BNPL accounts differ materially from credit cards in the way in which consumers access credit.Continue Reading CFPB Indicates That It Will Rescind Buy Now, Pay Later Interpretative Rule

On March 5, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “Bureau”) issued a Final Rule that would significantly restrict late fees that consumer credit card issuers may charge to a mere $8.

Within two days, the Final Rule faced a challenge in the Northern District of Texas by a coalition of trade groups including the United

On February 23, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published an order establishing supervisory authority over a small-loan consumer finance company, using a Dodd-Frank Act provision that allows the Bureau to supervise certain nonbanks that it has reasonable cause to determine pose risks to consumers.

In Mayer Brown’s Legal Update, we summarize relevant aspects

Mayer Brown is pleased to provide the latest edition of its UDAAP Round-Up. This newsletter is designed to provide readers with a periodic resource to stay abreast of federal activities regarding the prohibition on unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices in the consumer financial services space. In this edition, we cover notable policy

Businesses that place phone calls or send text messages to consumers may find some relief in a recent United States Supreme Court decision that limits the applicability of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). The TCPA prohibits any person from placing phone calls (including text messages) to a wireless number using an automated telephone dialing

On May 15, 2020, the House of Representatives passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (H.R. 6800, or the “HEROES Act”). The legislation is a controversial behemoth. It would provide another round of stimulus checks and student loan forgiveness, impose a 12-month eviction moratorium, expand mortgage forbearance relief, provide a

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is continuing to consider how Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks should address Property Assessed Clean Energy (“PACE”) programs. PACE programs are established by state and local governments to allow homeowners to finance energy-efficient projects through special property tax assessments. The obligation to repay results, in

Congress amended the Truth in Lending Act in May 2018 by directing the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau to prescribe ability-to-repay regulations with respect to Property Assessed Clean Energy (“PACE”) financing. PACE financing helps homeowners cover the costs of home improvements, which financing results in a tax assessment on the consumer’s property. Ability-to-repay regulations, which TILA

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently proposed amendments to its earlier policy for issuing no-action letters, and proposed a process for participating in a so-called regulatory “sandbox,” which would provide certainty in or exemptions from complying with certain federal consumer protection laws. Comments on the proposals are due by February 19, 2019.

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