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
Military/Service Members
Department of Defense Reinterprets Military Lending Act Guidance on Auto Financing
In February, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) amended its interpretation of the Military Lending Act (“MLA”). The amendment should make it easier for many lenders to provide guaranteed asset protection (“GAP”) insurance or other credit insurance in connection with auto loans to covered servicemembers or their dependents.
MLA and “Q&A #2”
The MLA prohibits creditors…
CFPB Requests Legislative Clarification on Its Supervision Authority over Military Lending Act
While most of the federal government remained shuttered in mid-January, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or the Bureau) was on the job, thinking about the Military Lending Act (MLA or the Act). On January 17, 2019, the Bureau’s Director, Kathleen Kraninger, issued a statement asking Congress to “explicitly grant the Bureau authority to conduct…
Happy New Year! California Legislation Addresses Financial Services Industry in 2019 and Beyond
The California legislature was active in 2018, enacting several new requirements and provisions applicable to the financial services industry. Those requirements include an important and comprehensive privacy regime (the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, or CCPA), which establishes new protections for personal information that covered commercial enterprises collect. The CCPA becomes effective January 1,…
VA Guaranty for Non-Cash-Out Refinancings Subject to New Conditions in Senate Banking Bill
Characterized as “protecting veterans from predatory lending,” S.2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, passed by the United States Senate on March 14, 2018. If enacted, the bill would impose material conditions on the eligibility of non-cash-out refinancings for government guaranty under the Veterans Affairs Loan Guaranty Program. While the legislation…
Military Lending Act and Servicemembers Civil Relief Act: Important Updates
Despite changes in leadership at numerous federal agencies, Washington D.C. continues to focus on lending to servicemembers. In December, Congress extended the time period for protections against foreclosure under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Otherwise, those protections would have expired at the end of 2017.
In addition, the Department of Defense recently amended its Military…
New Military Lending Act Regulations Effective October 3, 2016
New regulations under the federal Military Lending Act (“MLA”) that become effective next week will prohibit consumer loans to covered US Service members if those loans have a “military annual percentage rate” (“MAPR”) greater than 36 percent. The Defense Department’s regulations will impose that MAPR limit on additional types of consumer credit transactions (beyond just…