The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a permanent ban on a fraudulent debt collection operation that deceived consumers into paying debts they didn’t actually owe. The scheme, which operated under several aliases but was primarily known as Blackstone Legal, used intimidation tactics and false claims to extract money from unsuspecting individuals.
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As previously reported, in addressing the fact that current stays of the section 1071 small business data collection and reporting rule only apply to the applicable plaintiffs, intervenors and their members, the CFPB advised in May 2025 that it would not make enforcement of the rule a priority in order to provide relief to parties not covered by any court stay of the rule. The CFPB has now issued an interim final rule to extend the compliance dates of the rule for all lenders subject to the rule.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today released enforcement actions taken against national banks and federal savings associations (banks), and individuals currently and formerly affiliated with banks the OCC supervises.
As previously reported, based on an unopposed motion submitted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) the October 2021 redlining consent order with Trustmark National Bank was terminated early, and the DOJ is seeking early termination of the September 2022 consent order with Lakeland Bank. The Lakeland Bank motion for early termination is being opposed by the Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania, the National Fair Housing Alliance, and the New Jersey Citizen Action Education Fund.
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