Our consumer financial services practice brings together an interdisciplinary group of professionals who provide ongoing counseling and litigation representation to a wide variety of financial institutions, including banks, thrifts, finance companies, credit card issuers, mortgage bankers, vendors and retailers. Our consumer financial services regulatory and compliance practice focus on providing strategic legal counsel. Recognized leaders in the field, Dykema serves as state editor to HouseLaw, a leading consumer financial services online publication.

We counsel and defend clients on various federal laws affecting consumer lending, including the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Regulation Z; the Consumer Leasing Act and Regulation M; the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA); the Fair Housing Act; the Truth in Savings Act (TISA); the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), including the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA); the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA); the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA); the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act; the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA); the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), as well as state debt collection statutes; the United States Bankruptcy Code; the Gramm Leach Bliley Act (including regulations issued by the FTC and OCC, among others); FTC rules concerning consumer credit practices (e.g., the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the FTC Holder Rule); the primary federal usury statutes, including the National Bank Act, the Home Owners Loan Act (HOLA) and the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (DIDMCA); the Alternative Mortgage Transactions Parity Act (AMTPA); the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA); the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA); the Expedited Funds Availability Act; the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN); and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), among others.

Dykema is a member of various national trade associations, including the Mortgage Bankers Association and the American Financial Services Association.

Some of the services we provide include: 

• Defense of suits (including class actions) purporting to arise under various federal and state laws affecting the consumer financial services industry. 
• Regulatory and compliance advice concerning (i) the offer and sale of loan, insurance and related products; and (ii) personal property financing, leasing and lien enforcement. 
• Formal review of consumer loan, lease and insurance forms. 
• 50-state or limited multi-state projects and surveys to ensure client compliance with applicable laws. 
• Counseling on the sale, purchase or ongoing operations of financial services entities, including due diligence. 
• Counseling and litigation support concerning consumer bankruptcies and debt collections. 

In addition to the services offered within consumer financial services, our banking regulatory practice covers the full range of regulatory and corporate matters, including: mergers and acquisitions; corporate formations and restructurings; bank powers; the development of new financial products and services; corporate governance; trust activities; bank mutual fund matters; Bank Secrecy Act, USA PATRIOT Act, and anti-money laundering compliance; electronic banking; information technology and outsourcing matters; general business and strategic planning matters. Through our commercial finance practice, we likewise provide a wide spectrum of financing and lending activities, such as commercial lending, real estate and construction lending, private capital markets, public finance, creditors’ rights/troubled investments and securitizations.

Our Financial Markets Crisis Task Force includes senior attorneys and government policy advisors with significant experience across a broad range of practices, including, corporate finance, commercial finance, infrastructure and project finance, consumer financial services, debt acquisition and counseling, international, tax, real estate, employment, and bankruptcy. Attorneys and policy advisors in the group collaborate to provide legal counsel and legislative and regulatory guidance on complex issues resulting from the global financial crisis, helping clients navigate and adapt to the changing economic environment.

For more information about our Consumer Financial Services practice, please contact any of the following:

Leader:	Richard Gottlieb, 312-627-2196
Office Contacts
Ann Arbor:	K.J. Miller, 734-214-7678
Bloomfield Hills:	Joe Hickey, 248-203-0555
Chicago:	Richard Gottlieb, 312-627-2196
Dallas:	Thomas Hanson, 214-462-6420
Detroit:	Thomas Schehr, 313-568-6659
Grand Rapids:	Mark van der Laan, 616-776-7539
Lansing:	Theodore Seitz, 517-374-9149
Los Angeles:	Fredrick Levin, 213-457-1837
Charlotte:	Don Lampe, 704-335-2736
Washington, D.C.:	Arthur Axelson, 202-906-8607