Following closely on the heels of a Georgia law enacted in May, Connecticut and Florida have become the latest states to enact laws requiring providers of small business financing to provide disclosures to recipients—and in Connecticut’s case, to require certain commercial finance providers to register with the state. We examine the unique and interesting provisions
Legal Update: Georgia Enacts Commercial Finance Disclosure Law, Extending Legislative Trend
Providers of commercial financing should take note that Georgia has become the fifth US state to enact small business financing disclosure requirements since California started the trend in 2018. Georgia Senate Bill 90 was signed by Governor Brian Kemp on May 1, 2023, and takes effect January 1, 2024. The Georgia law applies to transactions
Legal Update: The CFPB Sticks to Its Guns, Finding State Commercial Finance Disclosure Laws Not Preempted in Final Determination
The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has finalized its December 2022 preliminary determination that commercial finance disclosure laws recently enacted in California, New York, Utah and Virginia are not preempted by the federal Truth in Lending Act. The CFPB’s final determination confirms for a wide range of small business financers and brokers that they
Legal Update: The Suspense Is Over – NYDFS Adopts Final Commercial Financing Disclosure Rules, Announces Effective Date, and Provides New Exemptions
Small business financers and brokers (“providers”) active in New York are officially on notice to finalize their preparations to comply with New York’s Commercial Finance Disclosure Law (“CFDL”) by August 1, 2023, the new effective date provided in final administrative regulations just issued on February 1 by the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”).
Legal Update: Iowa Targets Out-of-State Bank Partner for Usury, Shedding Light on State’s Interpretation of DIDMCA Opt-Out
State-chartered banks lending to Iowa residents will want to take note of an Assurance of Discontinuance entered into in December between the State of Iowa and an out-of-state bank to settle claims that the bank charged usurious rates of interest to Iowa consumers. The settlement also highlights the Iowa Attorney General’s interpretation of the state’s
Legal Update: CFPB Preliminarily Determines State Commercial Financing Disclosure Laws Not Preempted by Truth in Lending Act
Small business lenders hoping for federal intervention will be disappointed to learn that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has reached a preliminary determination that New York’s new commercial financing disclosure law is not preempted by the federal Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”). The CFPB’s public notice indicates that it initially takes the same view
Legal Update: Marketplace Lender’s Suit Challenges “True Lender” Recharacterization by California DFPI
Marketplace lender Opportunity Financial, LLC (“OppFi”) has gone on the offensive against the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”) to protect its bank partnership program against challenge on a “true lender” theory. On March 7, 2022, OppFi filed suit against the DFPI to ask the state court to declare that FinWise Bank, a
Illinois Imposes Strict 36% Usury Cap for a Range of Consumer Finance Products and Providers
On March 23, 2021, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed into law Senate Bill 1792, enacting the Predatory Loan Prevention Act (PLPA) and capping interest at an “all-in” 36% APR (similar to the Military Lending Act’s MAPR) for a variety of consumer financing, effective immediately. The PLPA uses an expansive definition of interest for the usury
Congress Prepares to Invalidate OCC’s True Lender Rule
On Thursday (March 26, 2021), Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to invalidate the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) true lender rule. The resolution is co-sponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Catherine Cortez-Masto
The OCC Finalizes “Madden Fix” Regulation, Codifying the “Valid-when-Made” Doctrine as Applicable to Loans Made by National Banks and Federal Savings Associations
On Friday, the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) finalized a regulation regarding the “Permissible Interest on Loans that are Sold, Assigned, or Otherwise Transferred” by national banks and federal savings associations. Initially proposed in November 2019, the regulation provides that interest on a loan that is permissible under provisions of