On April 14, 2020, the Consumer Financial Bureau (CFPB), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB) issued an interagency statement advising financial institutions of existing flexibilities and exceptions that may be useful during the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to real estate evaluations and appraisals.
- Physical Property Inspections
Currently, exterior and interior property inspections are not required by the appraisal ...
On Monday, April 13, 2020, the Attorneys General of 25 States submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Treasury urging Secretary Mnuchin to take action to ensure that relief payments issued to consumers pursuant to the CARES Act will be exempt from garnishment by creditors and debt collectors. The letter states that, “in what appears to be a legislative oversight,” the $1,200 stimulus checks payable under the Act to those adults with income under $75,000 are not explicitly designated as exempt from garnishment like other federal benefits such as disability and veterans’ ...
On April 6, 2020, the Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters, issued a broad memo outlining additional Democratic priorities for any subsequent Coronavirus relief package. Although more far-reaching, many of those proposals would directly impact consumers and the financial services industry, including:
- Support for Renters, Homeowners, and the Homeless:
During the Crisis
(1) Ban all evictions for nonpayment of rent regardless of whether the property has a federally backed loan. Tenants would be eligible to receive assistance through the ...
On April 13, 2020, twenty-three Attorneys General sent a joint letter urging the CFPB to withdraw its recent guidance on Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requirements during the COVID-19 crisis. The request came from Attorneys General of Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
In the letter, the Attorneys General responded to the CFPB’s April 1 ...
On April 7, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in consultation with state financial regulators (hereinafter the "agencies") issued a revised interagency statement regarding loan modifications and reporting for borrowers affected by COVID-19. The revised statement clarifies the relationship between the March 22, 2020 interagency statement and section 4013 of the ...
On April 1, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Statement on Supervisory and Enforcement Practices Regarding the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Regulation V in Light of the CARES Act (Policy Statement). To highlight the importance of credit reporting during the current crisis, the CFPB issued the Policy Statement to outline the responsibility of furnishers under the CARES Act, and its “flexibility” as it relates to compliance under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Regulation V. Particularly, to better manage the crisis and maintain ...
On April 1, 2020, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal released its opinion in the case 78D Team, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., etc., 3D 19-1708 (Fla. 3d DCA April 1, 2020). In this appeal, Burr successfully defended an appeal that challenged a payments order under Florida Statute 701.10(2), which permits trial courts in Florida to enter an order requiring monthly mortgage payments be made in foreclosure actions that do not involve owner occupied residential real estate. If payments are not made following such an order, the trial court can order the eviction of the property’s ...
Those of us who have been litigating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) have spent the better part of the last decade trying to determine what constitutes an automated telephone dialing system (“ATDS”). The answer seemed clear to many when the statute was enacted in 1991 because telemarketers were the focus, cell phones were expensive and uncommon and the plain language of the statute defined an ATDS as “equipment which has the capacity—(A) to store or produce telephone numbers to be called using a random or sequential number generator; and (B) to dial such ...
On April 1, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") released a policy statement providing guidance on credit reporting companies' and furnishers' responsibilities during COVID-19. The CFPB's policy statement encourages lenders to voluntarily provide relief and to accurately report any relief to credit bureaus. The policy statement further indicates furnishers should comply with the CARES Act, which, with certain exceptions, requires lenders to report accounts as current if consumers have sought relief from their lenders due to the pandemic, or, if an ...
On April 2, 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida entered Executive Order 20-94, requiring a 45-day suspension of “any statute providing for a mortgage foreclosure cause of action under Florida law.” The Executive Order also requires a 45-day suspension of statutes providing for a cause of action for residential eviction.
Presumably, the Governor ordered the suspension of any statute providing for foreclosure and eviction causes of action in light of § 252.36(5)(a), Florida Statutes, which allows the Governor to suspend any “regulatory ...