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FTC restructures rulemaking as justices debate its limits on consumer redress
On March 25, FTC acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter announced a new rulemaking group within the FTC’s Office of the General Counsel created to streamline and strengthen the Commission’s rulemaking process and coordinate rulemaking among various units. The FTC’s current rulemaking process is decentralized, according to Slaughter, with individual bureaus and divisions responsible for particular rules. “The new structure will aid the planning, development, and execution of rulemaking,” she said, noting that with the “new group in place, the FTC is poised to strengthen existing rules and to undertake new rulemakings to prohibit unfair or deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition.” Slaughter also emphasized the critical importance of effective rulemaking “given the risk that the Supreme Court substantially curtails the FTC’s ability to seek consumer redress under Section 13(b)” through enforcement actions.
As previously covered by InfoBytes, last year the Court granted review in two cases that had reached different conclusions regarding the availability of restitution under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act: (i) the 9th Circuit’s decision in FTC v. AMG Capital Management (covered by InfoBytes here), which upheld a $1.3 billion judgment against the petitioners for allegedly operating a deceptive payday lending scheme and concluded that a district court may grant any ancillary relief under the FTC Act, including restitution; and (ii) the 7th Circuit’s ruling in FTC v. Credit Bureau Center (covered by InfoBytes here), which held that Section 13(b) does not give the FTC power to order restitution. The Court consolidated the two cases and will decide whether the FTC can demand equitable monetary relief in civil enforcement actions under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act.
The same day, Acting Chairwoman Slaughter released the FTC’s 2020 Annual Highlights. Among other things, it discusses the Commission’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and efforts to educate consumers about Covid-19-related scams, as well as businesses’ responsibilities concerning honest advertising.
Italian company settles with OFAC for violating Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations
On March 26, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $950,000 settlement to resolve alleged violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations with an Italian company that produces and reexports air pressure switches. According to OFAC’s accompanying web notice, between 2013 and 2017, the company allegedly “knowingly reexported 27 shipments of air pressure switches procured from a U.S. company intended for as many as ten customers in Iran and caused a U.S. company to indirectly export its goods to Iran.” OFAC also alleged that the company engaged in efforts to obfuscate its reexportation of goods from the U.S. to Iranian end-users by, among other things, having employees use deceptive replacement terms for Iran in communications with the U.S company in order to avoid referencing Iranian end-users, and requesting that the term “Made in USA” be removed from the switches to disguise their origin.
In arriving at the settlement amount, OFAC considered various aggravating factors, including that (i) the company willfully reexported air pressure switches even though it knew it was violating U.S. sanctions; (ii) company management “either failed to provide effective oversight of its employees and operations or chose to ignore these prohibited trade practices”; and (iii) the conduct caused over $2.5 million worth of goods to be diverted from the U.S. to Iran.
OFAC also considered various mitigating factors, including that the company (i) has not received a penalty notice from OFAC in the proceeding five years; (ii) ceased the conduct at issue and took remedial measures, including implementing a sanctions compliance program and agreeing to enhanced compliance commitments; and (iii) cooperated with OFAC’s investigation.
CFPB and FTC monitoring eviction practices
On March 29, CFPB acting Director Dave Uejio and FTC acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter issued a joint statement indicating staff at both agencies will be monitoring and investigating eviction practices to ensure that they comply with the law. The statement follows the CDC’s March 28 announcement extending its current moratorium on residential evictions for three additional months, through June 30. Uejio and Slaughter noted that the agencies are coordinating with the CDC to ensure renters are informed of their rights under the eviction moratorium and understand how to complete declarations needed to stop evictions. Additionally, the agencies are monitoring consumer complaints for spikes and trends in potential Covid-19-related violations of the prohibitions against deceptive and unfair practices, including those under the FDCPA and the FTC Act.
SBA gives guidance on PPP loan-error codes
On March 29, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an updated procedural notice to lenders providing instructions on Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan error codes. The notice revises guidance provided in a previously issued procedural notice (covered by InfoBytes here) and addresses (i) Second Draw PPP loan guaranty applications where there is a hold code on the borrower’s First Draw PPP loan, as well as (ii) First Draw PPP loan guaranty applications and Second Draw PPP loan guaranty applications with compliance check error messages. The updates address compliance check error messages related to disqualifying criminal history, delinquent or defaulted federal student loan restrictions, and updated lender certification.
Maryland regulator amends guidance regarding foreclosures
On March 29, the Maryland commissioner of financial regulation issued amended regulatory guidance extending the prohibition of the initiation of foreclosures through May 3, 2021. The “re-start date” for the initiation of residential foreclosures will be May 4, 2021. The guidance is issued pursuant to the Maryland governor’s executive order 20-12-17-02, which amended and restated previous executive orders covered here, here, and here.
Arkansas passes law paving way for rules to permit mortgage employees to work outside a licensed location
On March 29, the Arkansas legislature passed SB149 (now known as Act 531), which, among other things, permits the Arkansas Securities Commissioner to issue a rule or order to establish terms and conditions pursuant to which mortgage loan activity under the Fair Mortgage Lending Act may be conducted outside of an entity’s main place of business or branches.
Colorado extends prohibition against assessing rental late fees
On March 28, Colorado Governor Jared Polis issued Executive Order D 2021 073 extending the prohibition against assessing a late fee to a residential or commercial tenant for untimely payment of rent by an additional 30 days, expiring on April 30.
Colorado suspends certain deadlines to allow for continued use of CARES Act funds
On March 27, Colorado Governor Jared Polis issued Executive Order D 2021 072 extending the period during which eligible state and local government expenditures can be reimbursed by CARES Act funds. This allows eligible expenditures to be funded by the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars through April 26.
CFPB to address harm created from revocation of payday rule’s ability to repay standard
On March 23, CFPB acting Director Dave Uejio published a blog post highlighting the Bureau’s belief that harms in the small dollar lending market identified by its 2017 final rule covering “Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans” still exist. As previously covered by InfoBytes, in 2020, the Bureau issued a final rule revoking certain underwriting provisions of the 2017 final rule, including (i) the provision that makes it an unfair and abusive practice for a lender to make covered high-interest rate, short-term loans or covered longer-term balloon payment loans without reasonably determining that the consumer has the ability to repay the loans according to their terms; (ii) the prescribed mandatory underwriting requirements for making the ability-to-repay determination; (iii) the “principal step-down exemption” provision for certain covered short-term loans; and (iv) related definitions, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements. Uejio stressed that the Bureau intends to “use the authority provided by Congress to address these harms, including through vigorous market monitoring, supervision, enforcement, and, if appropriate, rulemaking.” Additionally, he noted that the Bureau “continues to believe that ability to repay is an important underwriting standard. To the extent small dollar lenders’ business models continue to rely on consumers’ inability to repay, those practices cause harm that must be addressed by the CFPB.”
FinCEN Exchange discusses BSA suspicious activity reporting statistics
On March 23, FinCEN convened a virtual FinCEN Exchange event with representatives from depository institutions, money services businesses, and law enforcement to discuss Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) filing statistics for certain low-dollar, voluntarily-filed suspicious activity reports containing a transaction nexus to Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. As previously covered by InfoBytes, FinCEN launched the exchange program in 2017 to create opportunities for regular briefings between FinCEN, law enforcement, and financial institutions, and to assist financial institutions meet their BSA compliance obligations while filing “high-quality BSA reports,” which aid law enforcement in detecting, preventing, and prosecuting criminals and other bad actors.