Author: Beth Yensan

The long and winding road that has been the revisions to the New York City Debt Collection Regulation appears to be at an end. On February 26, 2026, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) issued a Notice of Adoption (“NOA”) finalizing revisions to the Big Apple’s conduct-regulating debt collection scheme.… Continue reading Analysis of Finalized New York City Debt Collection Regulation: Part 1

It’s a busy day for operations. Customers are everywhere, and business is good. You need to respond to a question about a payment convenience fee. To save time, you quickly enter: “Can I charge an ACH convenience fee in [state]” into your favorite generative artificial intelligence tool. The tool provides you with an instant answer,… Continue reading The Bot Said It Was Fine: The Perils of AI-Generated Legal Advice for Dealers and Finance Companies

HIGHLIGHTS: CASE SUMMARY: On March 30, 2026, the FTC simultaneously filed a complaint and a consent order in the federal district court for the Northern District of Texas against two affiliated entities that operate within a common enterprise and share services, including online dating platforms, in Dallas, Texas. The complaint alleges that the Online Dating… Continue reading Hudson Cook Enforcement Alert: FTC Announces Enforcement Resolution with Online Dating Service Providers over Alleged Deceptive Data Sharing Practices

In this month’s article, we share some of our top “bites” covered during the March 2026 webinar. Bite 13: Federal Court Rules Against CFPB in Funding Lawsuit On March 13, 2026, media outlets reported that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, ruled that Acting Director Vought’s refusal to seek funding for the CFPB from… Continue reading Consumer Financial Services Bites of the Month – March 18, 2026 – “March Wind’s Gonna Blow My Blues All Away.”

March Madness: Colorado takes aim at a debt collector while New Jersey targets motor vehicle dealer sales and advertising practices and Texas continues its aggressive privacy enforcement push. Colorado Colorado Attorney General Weiser and the Administrator of the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act settled with a collection agency over allegations that the company engaged in deceptive… Continue reading State Watch: Consumer Protection Enforcement Update

On March 13, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it is sending warning letters to ninety-seven auto dealerships throughout the nation. The letters state, “[t]his letter is to advise you that you may be advertising prices for cars that are lower than what you actually charge consumers.” The letters encourage the dealership to review… Continue reading Industry Alert from Hudson Cook: FTC Sends Ninety-Seven Warning Letters to Auto Dealers Regarding Deceptive Pricing

On January 12, 2026, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice withdrew their October 2023 joint statement regarding the implications of a creditor’s consideration of an individual’s immigration status on compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The 2023 statement cautioned that creditor policies related to an applicant’s immigration or citizenship status… Continue reading Federal Agencies’ Withdrawal of Joint Statement on Fair Lending Likely to Reduce Credit Opportunities for Non-Citizens

A merchant bankruptcy poses several dangers for revenue-based commercial funders. Most obviously, from a business standpoint, bankruptcy disrupts the merchant’s ongoing revenue generation and the transfer of revenue to the funder. However, bankruptcy also poses important compliance considerations. First, bankruptcy can impact the risk that a provider’s transaction may be deemed to be a loan.… Continue reading New York Criminal Usury as a Claim in Bankruptcy

In late February, in the midst of an historic East Coast Blizzard, the New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) issued its pre-proposed regulations to implement the state’s 2025 statute regulating buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) lenders (the “BNPL Act”). The BNPL Act was enacted as a component of the state’s budget legislation, but it remains in suspended… Continue reading New York Buy-Now-Pay-Later Rules Overly Broad?