Consumer Financial Services

We often act as sole counsel or national coordinating counsel in defending major consumer financial services providers in litigation and arbitration. Our litigators have handled claims, including class actions, involving:

• enforcement of consumer credit contract arbitration provisions;
• challenges to interest rates, fees, and other contract terms;
• the full range of federal and state consumer financial services laws, including TILA, HOEPA, ECOA, FCRA, FDCPA, RESPA, EFTA, and TCPA;
• credit discrimination and reverse redlining; marketing and advertising practices;
• privacy, data, and cybersecurity issues;
• insurance; and
• claims of unlawful arbitration and fraudulent debt management.

We have considerable experience representing financial technology companies, including marketplace lenders, ranging from startups to established enterprises and those seeking to expand into this growing sector. We have assisted clients of all sizes with the development, launch, and maintenance of technology-driven financial products and services, including mobile and web-based tools, payment systems, and fund transfer and tracking products.

Our experience includes advising on:

• Consumer and small business finance products, including secured and unsecured loans; credit cards, home equity lines of credit, and other open-end products; auto and other retail installment sale agreements, consumer leases, and layaway agreements; government-insured and private student loan programs and tuition payment plans; higher-risk products typically directed to subprime customers; litigation funding; and merchant cash advances and small business loans repaid through credit card receivable remittances or recurring ACH authorizations
• Payment card products, including payroll and other stored-value cards and gift cards, as well as more traditional deposit products and certificates
• Credit insurance, debt cancellation, debt suspension, and ancillary products
• Blockchain products, including virtual currency, mobile wallets, prepaid cards, and other internet-based services
• Implementation and enforcement of pre-dispute arbitration programs, including the most novel and consumer-friendly programs in the market
• Compliance with advertising and marketing requirements
• Compliance with state and federal statutes that prohibit unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices
• Compliance with federal and state military lending laws
• Compliance with anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act requirements
• Use of the internet, electronic payment systems, social media, and mobile phone technology
• Federal preemption, Commerce Clause, and conflict-of-law issues
• Privacy and data security, mining, and aggregation
• Credit reporting, and debt collection practices
• Electronic records storage and electronic delivery of credit-related disclosures
• Artificial intelligence issues

Our experience encompasses the full range of federal and state banking and consumer finance laws. We regularly deal with federal and state banking agencies, state attorneys general, and other state and local agencies, both within and outside of our geographic footprint.

We conduct regulatory due diligence for clients acquiring or investing in consumer financial services businesses and products, including private equity companies and investment banks. In performing diligence, we often work with financial advisers, communicate with regulatory authorities, negotiate and draft commercial agreements with third parties, and assess applicable federal and state laws as well as judicial decisions.

We counsel clients who are concluding loan purchase/sale and account servicing arrangements and customer transactions. Our attorneys advise on the structure of acquisitions and strategic alliances, draft consumer and small business agreements and disclosures, and design and improve compliance systems and controls.

We regularly assist clients in obtaining state licenses for companies engaged in consumer finance-related activities. Our licensing work frequently takes place in conjunction with our representation of clients acquiring or investing in consumer financial services businesses and products. We have considerable experience with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry—the online system through which a growing list of state license types, in addition to those related to the mortgage industry, are obtained and maintained.

We assist clients with a wide range of payment system matters, including product development and marketing, business and consumer agreements, regulatory compliance, third-party risk management, data security and privacy, litigation, regulatory investigations, and mergers and acquisitions. Our clients include financial institutions, nonbank financial services companies, and payment processors.

Our Mortgage Banking Group provides regulatory compliance advice to clients in both the residential and commercial mortgage banking industries. Attorneys in the Group also handle issues related to repurchases, state and federal licensing, transactions, due diligence and audits, litigation, and administrative enforcement. They also advise industry service providers, such as document preparation companies, telemarketers, loan fulfillment companies, and trade associations.