Ballard Spahr LLP (JD Supra United States)

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on June 3 updated guidance regarding home retention options and alternatives to foreclosure for borrowers experiencing financial hardships due to COVID-19. The VA previously provided guidance in Loan Guaranty Circular 26-21-07. In the update, the VA advises servicers that they should consider all home retention options and alternatives to foreclosure...

American Banker has reported that Manny Alvarez, Commissioner of the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, will be leaving the agency on June 18, 2021.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that the lawsuit filed by the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) seeking to block the OCC’s issuance of special purpose national bank (SPNB) charters to non-depository fintech companies should be dismissed for lack of Article III standing. In December 2017, the DFS’s first lawsuit challenging the OCC’s issuance of SPNB...

A bill (AB 298) currently awaiting the signature of the Nevada Governor would impose new limits on the terms of consumer vehicle leases and require new disclosures.

The Ballard Spahr Zoning and Land Use Team is continuing to monitor all aspects of the Philadelphia land use approval process, including the issuance of zoning and building permits, regulation of construction work, and zoning and land-use related legislation in City Council. Below, we provide information on bills recently introduced in City Council.

With California set to lift nearly all masking and social distancing requirements on June 15, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (“Cal/OSHA”) has placed the burden on employers with unvaccinated workers to continue to have them masked. On Thursday June 3, Cal/OSHA approved a rule (effective June 15th) that allows workers to go maskless only if everyone in the room is...

In April 2020, an executive assistant at a Staten Island health care provider was allegedly terminated for raising COVID-19 related safety concerns about an in-person meeting. In what may be a sign of litigation to come, the Department of Labor has filed suit against the employee’s former employer alleging violation of the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. This

Professor Jeff Sovern responded to our blog criticizing his proposal for a new CFPB arbitration rule by asserting that his proposed rule is not substantially the same as the prior CFPB rule that Congress vetoed and, therefore, the Congressional Review Act would not bar its promulgation. According to Professor Sovern: “I don’t see how my rule giving consumers a choice to opt in to arbitration...

Indictment Alleges International Scheme Involving Bribes Touching NY Correspondent Bank Accounts - The U.S. Department of Justice announced last week that U.K. law enforcement officials arrested, at its request, an Austrian national, Peter Weinzierl, for his alleged participation in a wide-ranging money laundering scheme involving Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht S.A. Odebrecht...

Summary - The Supreme Court announced that it will hear a copyright case between fabric designer Unicolors, Inc. and fashion retailer H&M, which may clarify the applicable legal standard to invalidate copyright registrations due to underlying application errors.

Journalists may face less risk for commonplace investigative computer reporting techniques thanks to a ruling today from the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Ninth Circuit has granted Seila Law’s motion for a stay of the mandate pending its filing of a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The CFPB announced last week that it has entered into a proposed settlement with Driver Loan, LLC (“Driver Loan”) and its Chief Executive Officer to settle the November 2020 lawsuit it filed against Driver Loan and its CEO alleging the defendants engaged in deceptive acts and practices in violation of the Dodd-Frank Act’s UDAAP prohibition in connection with taking deposits from and making loans...

According to an American Banker report, two senior CFPB officials, Bryan Schneider and Peggy Twohig, will be leaving the Bureau in the coming weeks.

Summary - The Department of Education (DOE) will hold five days of virtual public hearings on Title IX enforcement starting on June 7. This comes as part of the DOE’s comprehensive review of its Title IX regulations in accordance with the Biden Administration’s March 8 Executive Order on Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free from Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, Including Sexual...

On May 21, 2021, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) announced that it had reached a settlement with California-based Cascade Village Apartments II, LP (“Cascade Village”), its management company, FPI Management, Inc. (“FPI”), and FPI’s portfolio manager to resolve allegations that the companies violated the Fair Housing Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on the basis of...

Professor Jeff Sovern recently proposed that the CFPB issue a supposedly “new” arbitration rule “that prevents companies from blocking consumers from suing in court unless consumers specifically opted in to the arbitration clause” after being given a CFPB-mandated disclosure that if they do not sign and their rights are violated, they “may still sue us in court or later agree to arbitration.” ...

Treasury Offers Something for Everyone to Comply With: Trades and Businesses, Banks, Crypto Exchangers and Individuals - On May 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) released its American Families Plan Tax Compliance Agenda (“Agenda”), a comprehensive set of initiatives to increase tax compliance and close the “tax gap” between the amount taxpayers owe and the amount that is...

Today, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) substantially augmented its technical assistance questions and answers related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal equal employment opportunity laws. It also released a new document targeted at employees and job applicants that explains how federal anti-discrimina

A federal judge in Colorado has upheld the enforceability of Colorado’s pay transparency law, despite vigorous challenges from the business community. As previously reported here, in November 2020, Colorado passed sweeping new regulations regarding equal pay transparency under the state’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. Under that law, employers in Colorado have to issue compensation ranges in all...

Summary - New York’s HERO Act, which goes into effect on June 4, 2021, will require all New York employers to implement permanent protections against airborne infectious diseases in the workplace. Employers can either adopt industry-specific plans to be issued by the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL), or employers can create their own plans, as long as they provide at least as much...

Summary - The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) finalized several major revisions to its statutory remediation standards rules (N.J.A.C. 7-26D). The revisions are highly technical and have practical implications for both open and closed remediation sites in New Jersey.

This is a reminder that a COBRA notice deadline is approaching. It applies to employers that are subject to the federal COBRA rules.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently addressed eligibility for FHA mortgage loans for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients in Mortgagee Letter 2021-12. As previously reported, at the end of the Trump administration HUD announced that effective January 19, 2021, individuals who are classified under DACA with the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration...

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) recently issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) and request for information (RFI) addressing “False Advertising, Misrepresentation of Insured Status and Misuse of the FDIC’s Name or Logo.”

Last month, in a very troubling decision of first impression, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the lower court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s FDCPA claim, instead ruling that the plaintiff stated a claim where the plaintiff alleged that a debt collector’s transmittal of the plaintiff’s personal information to the vendor it used to generate and send...

The CFPB recently issued a consent order against 3rd Generation, Inc., doing business as California Auto Finance (California Auto), regarding interest charged on consumers’ late payment of the fee charged for California Auto’s Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) product. The consent order requires California Auto to refund $168,162 to customers with paid-off accounts, issue $117,582 in credits to customers

The FDIC has filed a motion for summary judgment in the lawsuit filed by the Attorney Generals of six states and District of Columbia to set aside the FDIC’s “Madden-fix” rule.  The filing also includes the FDIC’s opposition to the summary judgment motion filed by the AGs.

Philadelphia City Council enacted an ordinance, effective immediately, requiring all Philadelphia taxpayers to report any changes to their federal taxable income (as a result of a resolution of an audit, agreement with the IRS or court proceeding) to the Philadelphia Revenue Department (the Department). See our Tax colleagues’ more detailed alert on this ordinance here.

The CFPB has filed its fifth status report with the California federal district court as required by the Stipulated Settlement Agreement (Agreement) in the lawsuit filed against the Bureau in May 2019 alleging wrongful delay in adopting regulations to implement Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.