In April of 2021, the CFPB released an update Debt Collection Small Entity Compliance Guide, which focuses on the Debt Collection Rule and includes a detailed summary of the Debt Collection Rule’s substantive prohibitions and requirements.

On 4/9/2021, the FDIC announced that it is again seeking the public’s input on potential modernization of its sign and advertising requirements to better reflect how banks and savings associations operate and how consumers use banking services. This request for information reopens a notice the FDIC originally published in the Federal Register on 2/19/2020, just prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Given the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDIC temporarily postponed this effort on April 16, 2020. The goal of this request is to solicit public input regarding potential changes to its official sign and advertising rules, as the last significant updates to these rules were in 2006.

On 4/1/2021, the CFPB warned mortgage servicers to take all necessary steps now to prevent a wave of avoidable foreclosures this fall. In their release, the CFPB explained that millions of homeowners currently in forbearance will need help from their servicers when the pandemic-related federal emergency mortgage protections expire this summer and fall, and that servicers should dedicate sufficient resources and staff now to ensure they are prepared for a surge in borrowers needing help. The CFPB explained that they will closely monitor how servicers engage with borrowers, respond to borrower requests, and process applications for loss mitigation.

On 4/7/21, the CFPB announced a proposal to delay the effective date of two recent debt collection rules from 11/30/21 to 1/29/22. In their release, the CFPB explains that the proposed delay would allow stakeholders affected by the pandemic additional time to review and implement the rules.

On 4/1/2021, the FFIEC announced that Todd M. Harper, Chairman, National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), was named Chairman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC). His two-year term runs from April 1, 2021, through March 31, 2023. Mr. Harper became the NCUA’s twelfth Chairman on January 20, 2021, and has been making statements over the last year that imply potential changes to how the NCUA will regulate consumer protection going forward.

On 3/31/2021, the FDIC issued a release (FIL-22-2021) to explain that the latest edition of their Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights had been published. The purpose of this publication is to provide insight regarding the FDIC’s consumer compliance supervisory activities and provide a high-level overview of consumer compliance issues identified in 2020 through the FDIC’s supervision of state non-member banks and thrifts. Topics include a summary of the FDIC’s supervisory approach in response to COVID-19, supervisory observations related to consumer protection laws, examples of practices that may be useful to institutions in mitigating risks, regulatory developments, and consumer compliance resources.