Consumer Financial Services & Protection

Frost Brown Todd advises financial service providers on compliance with state and federal laws governing a variety of products and services, including fintech companies, banking, secured and unsecured consumer lending products; residential real estate-secured products; retail installment sales and product leasing; line of credit and loan purchase agreements; payments and money transmission; prepaid, secured and unsecured credit cards; and digital assets as well as traditional and virtual currency money service businesses.

Adept in Consumer Finance and Consumer Protection Laws

Our compliance attorneys are well-versed in federal and state consumer protection laws and follow current trends to help you navigate the ever-changing landscape of consumer finance and consumer protection laws, including:

• Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-money Laundering
• Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA)
• Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA)
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and state equivalents
• Expedited Funds Availability Act (EFAA)
• Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
• Fair Housing Act (FHA)
• Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) and state equivalents
• Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)
• Homeowner Protection Act (HPA)
• Military Lending Act (MLA)
• NACHA rules
• Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) requirements
• Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA)
• State consumer protection laws (UDAP, collections, sales practices)
• State payday loan laws and regulations
• State installment loan, consumer leasing and credit laws and regulations
• State usury laws
• Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
• Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
• Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
• Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP)

Optimizing Compliance Programs

We also regularly assist businesses with optimizing their current compliance programs by conducting comprehensive risk assessments of existing programs and drafting policies and procedures, including vendor management programs, and working with in-house counsel to assist with implementation and maintenance of these programs.

Unparalleled Industry Experience

Our team includes a former chief compliance officer and general counsel who oversaw multiple business lines of a systemically important financial institution (SIFI), as well as a former general counsel and chief compliance officer of a fintech backed by some of the largest private equity firms engaged in fintech investing. Our attorneys also have extensive in-house bank experience and experience at many of the government agencies that regulate banking and consumer financial services (e.g., the Office of the Comptroller of Currency).

Frost Brown Todd has extensive experience representing clients across the country in individual and class actions, regulatory investigations and enforcement matters, both at the state and federal level. Our attorneys routinely handle matters from the inception of a dispute through the conclusion of the litigation process, as well as appeals.

Proven Success in Consumer Finance Litigation

We assist banks, financial services and other consumer-facing industries with class actions and other claims arising from individual lending transactions, foreclosure, repossession, bankruptcy and collection actions, and mortgage-related litigation. Our consumer finance attorneys have extensive expertise assisting clients with the following:

• Investigations and enforcement proceedings before various regulatory bodies, including state attorneys general, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
• Consumer claims
• Electronic signatures and “robo-signing” issues
• Communication consent, including phone and auto-dialer issues.
• Claims of deceptive practices
• Consumer class actions
• Consumer privacy/data breaches and disclosures
• Counterclaims
• Litigation avoidance
• Counsel regarding data privacy and response to data breaches.
• “Robo-calls” and spam texts

We utilize our breadth and depth of experience to assist clients in regulatory and civil disputes related to the following:

• Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
• Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA)
• Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA)
• Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
• Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP)
• State Consumer Protection Laws (UDAP, collections, sales practices)

Frost Brown Todd attorneys advise consumer financial services industry clients on a variety of regulatory needs at both the state and federal level. We assist clients with routine or for-cause compliance examinations, civil investigative demands and requests for information, and full investigations and regulatory enforcement. We also assist our clients with settlement negotiations, compliance with regulatory consent orders, formal agreement and memoranda of understanding, and other settlement agreements with regulators.

Experienced Regulatory Representation

Our lawyers have represented clients in proceedings before regulatory bodies including state financial protection agencies, state attorneys general, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC).