(Reuters) – John Coleman, former deputy general counsel of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has joined Buckley as a partner in Washington …

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By Elise Hansen (September 9, 2021, 6:53 PM EDT) — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hit LendUp Loans with a court action alleging the online lender used false promises to lure consumers into repeated borrowing, violating a 2016 consent order about deceptive marketing practices.Oakland, California-based LendUp Loans LLC didn’t always deliver the promised benefits to repeat customers, the CFPB told a California federal court Wednesday. LendUp’s website marketed a program called the LendUp Ladder, in which borrowers who made timely payments and took the company’s financial education courses could apply for larger loans with lower interest rates. But according to the complaint, that wasn’t always the case.

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On Thursday, Jennifer Eckhart and her legal team had a major legal victory after U.S. District Court Judge Ronnie Abrams advanced several of Eckhart’s claims, ruling that former Fox News anchor and White House correspondent Ed Henry cannot dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of sex trafficking.
TRIGGER WARNING: The following article contains general descriptions of sexual violence and rape.
The recent developments come just a little over a year since former associate Fox News producer Jennifer Eckhart filed her lawsuit against Fox News and Henry for a number of claims, including sex trafficking and most recently, violations of New York’s revenge porn law.
“We are very pleased with the Court’s well-reasoned decision,” Eckhart’s attorney, Michael J. Willemin told PopWrapped via email. “Neither Fox News nor Ed Henry succeeded in their early attempts to escape liability as to Ms. Eckhart’s allegations of rape, sexual assault and unlawful termination.”
However, enough was enough for Ms. Eckhart, wanting to see this lawsuit through on behalf of all women who have been similarly victimized and forced into silence by their abusers.
In what seems to be a disturbingly growing number of charges against the former Fox News anchor, Eckhart also seeks to hold the former Fox News anchor out for sex trafficking because “she says he used empty promises of career advancement to defraud her into
PopWrapped obtained a copy of the Court’s 52-page Opinion & Order (“Order”), revealing that Ms. Eckhart seeks to hold Henry liable under “a host of legal theories” including, but not limited to sex trafficking, retaliatory harassment and trauma, as well as a series of violations of New York’s revenge porn laws.
Judge Abrams also happens to be the sister of Law & Crime’s founder Dan Abrams, who recognized the extremely troubling accusations against both Henry and the network.
It’s important to note that the overall case Ms. Eckhart has brought against Fox News is not over, as both parties still remain in the case with respect to these important allegations.
Back in July, Eckhart’s attorney, Michael J. Willemin during oral arguments also described Henry’s conduct as “Weinstein-esque, but worse,” which sent a hauntingly powerful effect throughout the media landscape.
“He hit her,” Willemin said, referring to Henry and his client. “He handcuffed her. He bruised her up. He called her a ‘whore.’ He told her she doesn’t have a choice.”
The following is a brief summarization of what Judge Abrams articulated in the Order:
Sex Trafficking
In the lawsuit, Ms. Eckhart asserts that Henry is liable for sex trafficking because she says “he used empty promises of career advancement to defraud her into coming to his hotel room, then used force to cause her to have sexual intercourse with him.”
The court filings also indicate that this “is not a conventional claim of sex trafficking”, where an individual would allege that the perpetrator forced he/she/they into prostitution or sexual slavery. Instead, due to the nature of Ms. Eckhart’s allegations, the Court “must accept as true at this stage of the litigation, comport with the relatively broad language of the applicable statute”, which classifies as sex trafficking the use of “force [or] fraud…to cause [a] person to engage in a …sex act…on account of [some] thing of value.”
In Thursday’s ruling, the Court found Ms. Eckhart’s claim for sex trafficking to be “sufficiently plead.”
Is Henry Liable Under New York City’s ‘Gender Motivated Violence Act’?
According to court documents, which PopWrapped has reviewed, Eckhart also seeks to hold Henry liable for the alleged assaults under New York City’s Gender Motivated Violence Act.
Based on Thursday’s ruling, the Court found that Ms. Eckhart’s claim can proceed because she sufficiently “stat[ed] a claim under that statute because of her plausible allegations that [Henry] acted with animus toward women.”
Henry Violating Revenge Porn Laws in the Ongoing Litigation’s Filings
Perhaps what is most unique and even more troubling among the numerous Weinstein-esque allegations, is that Eckhart seeks to hold Henry out for violation of revenge porn laws, through Henry’s attorneys, who a few months back, “posted nude photographs of her on the public docket in this case in an attempt to ‘victim shame’ her.
In its ruling, the Court found that “…posting these photographs was not a reasonable litigation tactic” which allows for the survival of Ms. Eckhart’s claim, “…as does Eckhart’s related claim against Henry for violation of New York’s ‘revenge porn’ law.”
Fox News Remains in the Hot Seat
Judge Abrams also advanced multiple harassment-related claims against Fox News, stating that “…at this juncture, the Court concludes that Eckhart has plausibly alleged that the network knew or should have known about Henry’s sexually harassing behavior but not necessarily the specific conduct that amounts to sex trafficking,” Abrams found.
Unfortunately, Eckhart’s claims related to sex trafficking as it pertained to the network did not survive, however, Eckhart’s team expressed their satisfaction with Judge Abrams’ recent ruling.
In an email to PopWrapped, a FOX News spokesperson shared its statement in response to Thursday’s ruling:
“While we are pleased Judge Abrams ruled in favor of our motion to dismiss the Cathy Areu case, we remain committed to defending against the baseless allegations against Fox outlined in Jennifer Eckhart’s claims. As we have previously stated, upon first learning of Ms. Eckhart’s allegations against Ed Henry, FOX News Media immediately commenced a thorough independent investigation and within six days dismissed Mr. Henry for cause. We look forward to proving through the discovery process that FOX News Media takes harassment allegations seriously and acted appropriately.”
This Ruling Will be Precedent for Future Cases
While the ongoing litigation is not yet at an end, the Court’s most recent ruling, rejecting the vast majority of Henry’s arguments should be considered precedent for future cases that horrifically entail instances of sexual violence and misconduct.

“…we are pleased that the Court recognized the “profound invasion of privacy and bodily autonomy” resulting from the unreasonable act of Mr. Henry filing certain salacious material on the public docket, which Ms. Eckhart alleges was an abhorrent Weinstein-esque attempt to victim shame. We intend on pushing this case forward expeditiously and asking a jury to hold both Fox News and Mr. Henry accountable for their alleged conduct.”
Michael J. Willemin, counsel for Jennifer Eckhart
For more information on this case, please refer to Case 1:20-cv-05593-RA-GWG, which was filed on November 09, 2021.

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Charles Schaff
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Wells Fargo was fined $ 250 million by banking regulators for failing to properly implement its mortgage loss mitigation program.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Thursday that banks engaged in “unsafe or unhealthy practices” related to loan change programs and violated the terms of the 2018 consent order, which was critical of the company’s risk management system.
“Wells Fargo does not meet the requirements of the OCC’s 2018 proceedings against banks, which is unacceptable,” said Michael J. Sue of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in a statement. “In addition to the $ 250 million civil fine we are assessing against Wells Fargo, today’s action is the future of banks until existing problems with mortgage services are properly addressed. Imposing restrictions on the activities of. “

In a statement, Wells Fargo acknowledged the OCC’s regulatory action and stated that another issue, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s consent order from 2016, had expired. Bank stocks rose 1.6% in the news.
Charlie Schaff, Chief Executive Officer of Wells Fargo, said: “OCC’s actions today represent the work we must continue to do to address serious and long-standing deficiencies.”
Mr. Schaff said the expiration of the CFPB consent order “represents the progress we are making” to solve many of the bank’s regulatory issues.
“We have done substantive work designed to prevent the core act of the consent order (which is completely inconsistent with the values ​​the company was established in) from recurring,” said Schaff. rice field.
This story is developing. Please check for updates.

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Wells Fargo was a hit with another fine, but also says the CFPB order from 2016 sales practices has ended.
Source link Wells Fargo was a hit with another fine, but also says the CFPB order from 2016 sales practices has ended.

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This past month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released new data specifically about older homeowners in the United States, revealing that nearly 700,000 retirees remain behind on making their mortgage payments in the aftermath of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. While this figure has been reduced when compared with data from the second half of 2020, the figure is still very high and may affect certain multigenerational households at a higher level than others.
This is according to a blog post made by the Boston College Center for Retirement Research (CRR).
“[M]ost of the retirees in the CFPB report are largely reliant on Social Security, so their income is stable,” writes Kim Blanton for the CRR. “To understand why they’re having problems paying the mortgage requires reading the tea leaves in the CFPB report. More than half of the retirees with past due mortgages live with at least two other people, including children and teenagers.”

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This has the potential to disproportionately affect multigenerational households due to the nature of income in such households, the post reads.
“Lower-income people in multigenerational households typically share the burden of paying their living expenses,” the post reads. “If a retired homeowner’s adult family member lost a job because of the pandemic, the homeowner might not be getting the money she needs to pay the mortgage. The CFPB survey confirms this is occurring: more than a third of older homeowners who are behind on their mortgages said a family member was unemployed.”
Many of those struggling reported retirement income of $25,000 or less or were people of color, the post reads based on the data. There is likelihood that many of the people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic were working jobs which were generally low-paying, which bore the brunt of much of the economic shock that was caused by the pandemic.
“The family members who live with them – presumably people of color – may have worked in lower-paid jobs, which bore the brunt of last year’s layoffs and reduced hours at work,” the post reads. “And it’s probably no coincidence that the spike in past due mortgages occurred during the long dry spell between the first pandemic relief check issued in the spring of 2020 to workers and retirees and the second round of checks early this year.”
Much media attention has been focused on the issue of renters which may be displaced, but the crisis faced by seniors is happening simultaneously and with less general attention.
“The media have paid a lot of attention to the several million renters who are in danger of being evicted if the CDC’s moratorium on evictions expires in October. Another housing crisis is unfolding more quietly among retired homeowners,” the post reads.
Read the post at the CRR’s “Squared Away” blog.

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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Thursday that the bank engaged in “unsafe or unsound practices” tied to its loan-modification program and violated the terms of a 2018 consent order that was critical of its risk-management systems.
Wells Fargo acknowledged the OCC’s regulatory action and said that a separate issue, a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau consent order from 2016, had expired.

Wells Fargo was hit with a $250 million fine from a banking regulator after it failed to properly execute a mortgage loss-mitigation program.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Thursday that the bank engaged in “unsafe or unsound practices” tied to its loan-modification program and violated the terms of a 2018 consent order that was critical of its risk-management systems.
“Wells Fargo has not met the requirements of the OCC’s 2018 action against the bank. This is unacceptable,” Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu said in a statement. “In addition to the $250 million civil money penalty that we are assessing against Wells Fargo, today’s action puts limits on the bank’s future activities until existing problems in mortgage servicing are adequately addressed.”

In its own release, Wells Fargo acknowledged the OCC’s regulatory action and said that a separate issue, a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau consent order from 2016, had expired. Shares of the bank climbed 1.6% on the news.
Wells Fargo has paid more than $4 billion in penalties since its 2016 fake accounts scandal was uncovered. But the satisfaction of the CFPB consent order, one of the first actions it faced, could show that progress is being made. The bank had been operating under a dozen consent orders; one of them, from the Federal Reserve, limits the company’s ability to grow its balance sheet.
“Building an appropriate risk and control infrastructure has been and remains Wells Fargo’s top priority,” Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said in the statement. “The OCC’s actions today point to work we must continue to do to address significant, longstanding deficiencies.”
The OCC’s new enforcement action requires the bank to take ” broad and comprehensive corrective” steps to improve the mortgage program and bars it from using third party mortgage servicers.
Scharf said that the expiration of the CFPB consent order tied to its sales practices is “representative of progress we are making” to resolve the bank’s many regulatory issues.
“We have done substantial work designed to ensure that the conduct at the core of the consent order – which was reprehensible and wholly inconsistent with the values on which this company was built – will not recur,” Scharf said.
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But the satisfaction of the CFPB consent order, one of the first actions it faced, could show that progress is being made.

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In some positive news for the company, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 2016 consent order relating to the bank’s retail sales practices …

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By Justin Wise (September 9, 2021, 4:51 PM EDT) — A former deputy general counsel of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has joined Buckley LLP as a partner in its financial services practice, the firm announced Thursday, in a move it says comes at an opportune time given the shifting enforcement and regulatory landscape under the Biden administration.John Coleman joins Buckley’s Washington, D.C., office following more than 10 years at the financial industry watchdog, roughly five of which were as deputy general counsel for litigation and oversight. In that role, he oversaw a team of attorneys that represented the CFPB in litigation and matters before congressional oversight bodies.

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New board members bring deep digital marketing insight and experience using data and technology to drive meaningful consumer engagement and growthSALT LAKE CITY, September 09, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG), the fintech holding company for Progressive Leasing, a leading provider of e-commerce, app-based, and in-store lease-to-own purchase options, Vive Financial, a provider of omnichannel second-look revolving credit products, and Four Technologies, a provider of buy now, pay later technologies, has appointed Caroline Sheu and Ray Martinez to its Board of Directors.”Caroline and Ray are recognized leaders who have built large digital brands based on strong consumer loyalty and engagement and their collective experiences will be a welcome and valuable addition to our Board,” said Ray Robinson, Chairman of PROG Holdings.”We’re pleased to welcome Caroline and Ray as new independent directors,” said Steve Michaels, PROG Holdings’ President and Chief Executive Officer. “Their passion for building meaningful consumer experiences, particularly by harnessing data and technology to accelerate growth across a number of different digital channels, will be a tremendous asset as we continue to execute on our plan of creating value and long-term growth.”With the addition of Ms. Sheu and Mr. Martinez, PROG Holdings has added three new independent directors to its Board in 2021, each of whom possesses significant experience integrating and growing digital capabilities to drive engagement and expansion through connected and personalized consumer experiences. The Company believes these skillsets are highly relevant as it continues to grow its share of the non-prime financial consumer market and expand into new products and services.The Board’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee engaged executive search firm Spencer Stuart to assist with the nationwide search for potential director candidates.Story continuesAbout Caroline SheuCaroline Sheu brings over 20 years of experience transforming marketing organizations to adapt to rapidly changing consumer and technology trends. Ms. Sheu is the Global Director of Digital Marketing for the Google Store, Google’s direct-to-consumer channel for Google hardware and service, which includes its Nest, Pixel, and Fitbit brands. Prior to Google, Ms. Sheu was the Senior Vice President of North America Marketing at Ancestry, where she led marketing and consumer experience for the company’s North America business. She has also served as the Vice President of Global Digital and Customer Marketing at GAP, where she led digital and mobile transformation, including building and launching the company’s first-ever native mobile shopping apps for its GAP, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands. Ms. Sheu was also the Chief Marketing Officer at Care.com, a leading online marketplace for care services. Before Care.com, she spent 10 years in digital entertainment and gaming, holding a variety of management roles at Disney Interactive, Sony Network Entertainment, and Electronic Arts.About Ray MartinezRay Martinez is the Co-Founder and President of EVERFI, an international technology company driving social change on the most challenging issues affecting society through education. As a leader in digital learning, Mr. Martinez oversees the development of a variety of educational programs related to financial wellness, healthcare literacy, data science, mental health, and other critical skills. EVERFI’s courses are implemented in K-12 schools, the workplace, and communities nationwide reaching more than seven million learners each year. Mr. Martinez has also led large-scale strategic partnerships with global financial services companies to reach learners where they live, work, and engage. He has considerable regulatory experience and has worked closely with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and multiple states’ Attorneys General on financial literacy matters. Mr. Martinez is a thought leader and frequent speaker and author on topics related to systemic inequality. He also serves on the board of the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy in Washington, D.C.About PROG Holdings, Inc.PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) is a fintech holding company headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, that provides transparent and competitive payment options to consumers. The Company owns Progressive Leasing, a leading provider of e-commerce, app-based, and in-store point-of-sale lease-to-own purchase options, Vive Financial, an omnichannel provider of second-look revolving credit products, and Four Technologies, provider of Buy Now, Pay Later technologies through its platform, Four. More information on PROG Holdings’ companies can be found at https://www.progholdings.com.View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210909006004/en/ContactsInvestor Contact John A. Baugh, CFAVP, Investor [email protected] Contact Mark DelcorpsDirector, Corporate Communicationsmedia@progleasing.

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Moorari Shah is a partner in the Finance and Bankruptcy Practice Group in the firm’s Los Angeles and San Francisco offices. Areas of Practice
Moorari combines deep in-house and law firm experience to deliver practical, business-minded legal advice.

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The company reported that, effective at the end of the day yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) consent order issued in …

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Homeowners have options as forbearance periods end. A new rule from the CFPB prevents servicers from foreclosing on homeowners before January 2022.  (iStock)

As foreclosure moratoriums come to an end, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a new mortgage servicing rule that took effect Aug. 31 to help prevent foreclosures for borrowers facing delinquency. The rule will prevent most foreclosures from taking place before January 2022.
Millions of homeowners went into mortgage forbearance due to economic hardship brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. As many of those forbearance periods come to an end, the CFPB is installing new mortgage relief options to help prevent “avoidable foreclosures.” Under the new servicing rule, most mortgage servicers will be required to take extra steps to help homeowners in forbearance with options for repaying their mortgages. 
If you’ve recently exited mortgage forbearance due to coronavirus-related hardships, you may want to look into your mortgage refinance options to help lower your monthly payments. Visit Credible to find your personalized rate and see how much you could save.

HERE’S WHAT THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S NEW MORTGAGE SERVICING RULES MEAN FOR YOU
CFPB’s new servicing rule: A breakdown
The CFPB’s regulation was issued as an amendment to the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, a rule that protects homeowners and loan borrowers from predatory lending practices.
Before Jan. 1, 2022, most servicers will not be able to start the foreclosure process or assess penalties. A few exceptions, however, will be made for abandoned properties or dealing with an unresponsive borrower. During this delay, servicers must inform homeowners of:

When their forbearance program will end
Their options for repaying their missed payments and ways to avoid foreclosure
Contact information for free housing counseling services

If you are struggling to get back on your feet and make your payments by their due date, a mortgage refinance could help lower your monthly payments. Visit Credible to compare multiple lenders at once and choose the one with the best interest rate for you.

EXPERTS PREDICT FORECLOSURES TO RISE BY END OF YEAR, HERE’S HOW YOU CAN AVOID ONE
Who does the servicing rule apply to?
The new servicing rule applies to all homeowners. Under the final rule, servicers can even offer options to delinquent borrowers or homeowners at risk of foreclosure with an incomplete application for loss mitigation. 
The desired loan must be a closed-end loan on a borrower’s principal residence. It does not apply to home-equity lines of credit, open-end lines of credit, investment properties or reverse mortgages. Small servicers are also not required to comply with the new rule. 
Servicers must make reasonable diligence efforts and perform a full loss mitigation evaluation before they can begin any foreclosure proceedings. If you have questions about your eligibility for loss mitigation options, contact your mortgage servicer to see your options. You can also consider a mortgage refinance to lower your monthly payments. Visit Credible to get prequalified in minutes without affecting your credit score.

IS THE HOUSING MARKET COOLING OFF? WHY NOW IS STILL A GOOD TIME TO REFINANCE
What are my options for exiting forbearance?
Homeowners who are reaching the end of the forbearance period have several options available to help them get back on track with their mortgage payments. Homeowners should turn in their complete loss mitigation application to their servicer to learn more about their options. Here are a few repayment options:
Repayment plan: A repayment plan increases the homeowners’ monthly payments for a few months until the missed payments are paid off. 
Deferral: Deferment allows homeowners to push back their missed payments to the end of the loan without accruing an interest payment.
Modification: Homeowners who can no longer afford their previous payments can take out a loan modification which could lower payments by giving borrowers a lower interest rate or changing their loan term. The new servicing rule prevents servicers from making a loan modification that would increase a homeowners’ monthly mortgage payments. 
Reinstatement: This allows homeowners to simply pay back missed payments in one lump sum payment. 
If you are considering which option is best for you, also consider taking out a mortgage refinance. Due to recent changes by the Biden administration, even some homeowners who have been in forbearance can be eligible to refinance their mortgage. For further assistance, contact Credible to speak to a home loan expert and discuss your options.

Have a finance-related question, but don’t know who to ask? Email The Credible Money Expert at [email protected] and your question might be answered by Credible in our Money Expert column.

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Investor PresentationSeptember 2021Forward-Looking StatementsThis document may contain forward-looking statements concerning: projections of revenues, expenses, income or loss, earnings or loss per share, capital expenditures, the payment or nonpayment of dividends, capital position, credit losses, net interest margin or other financial items; statements of plans, objectives and expectations of Central Pacific Financial Corp. or its management or Board of Directors, including those relating to business plans, use of capital resources, products or services and regulatory developments and regulatory actions; statements of future economic performance including anticipated performance results from our various business initiatives; or any statements of the assumptions underlying or relating to any of the foregoing. Words such as “believes,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “forecasts,” “hopes,” “targeting,” “continue,” “remain,” “will,” “should,” “estimates,” “may” and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements.While we believe that our forward-looking statements and the assumptions underlying them are reasonably based, such statements and assumptions are by their nature subject to risks and uncertainties, and thus could later prove to be inaccurate or incorrect. Accordingly, actual results could differ materially from those statements or projections for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to: the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic virus on local, national and international economies, including, but not limited to, the adverse impact on tourism and construction in the State of Hawaii, our borrowers, customers, third-party contractors, vendors and employees as well as the effects of government programs and initiatives in response to COVID-19; the impact of our participation in the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and fulfillment of government guarantees on our PPP loans; the increase in inventory or adverse conditions in the real estate market and deterioration in the construction industry; adverse changes in the financial performance and/or condition of our borrowers and, as a result, increased loan delinquency rates, deterioration in asset quality, and losses in our loan portfolio; our ability to successfully implement our RISE2020 initiative; the impact of local, national, and international economies and events (including natural disasters such as wildfires, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tsunamis, storms, earthquakes and pandemic virus and disease, including COVID-19) on the Company’s business and operations and on tourism, the military, and other major industries operating within the Hawaii market and any other markets in which the Company does business; deterioration or malaise in domestic economic conditions, including any destabilization in the financial industry and deterioration of the real estate market, as well as the impact of declining levels of consumer and business confidence in the state of the economy in general and in financial institutions in particular; changes in estimates of future reserve requirements based upon the periodic review thereof under relevant regulatory and accounting requirements; the impact of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), changes in capital standards, other regulatory reform and federal and state legislation, including but not limited to regulations promulgated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”), government-sponsored enterprise reform, and any related rules and regulations which affect our business operations and competitiveness; the costs and effects of legal and regulatory developments, including legal proceedings or regulatory or other governmental inquiries and proceedings and the resolution thereof, the results of regulatory examinations or reviews and the effect of, and our ability to comply with, any regulations or regulatory orders or actions we are or may become subject to; ability to successfully implement our initiatives to lower our efficiency ratio; the effects of and changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including the interest rate policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “FRB” or the “Federal Reserve”); inflation, interest rate, securities market and monetary fluctuations, including the anticipated replacement of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) Index and the impact on our loans and debt which are tied to that index; negative trends in our market capitalization and adverse changes in the price of the Company’s common stock; political instability; acts of war or terrorism; pandemic virus and disease, including COVID-19; changes in consumer spending, borrowing and savings habits; failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures; cybersecurity and data privacy breaches and the consequence therefrom; the ability to address deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures; technological changes and developments; changes in the competitive environment among financial holding companies and other financial service providers; the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the regulatory agencies, as well as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) and other accounting standard setters and the cost and resources required to implement such changes; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; changes in our organization, compensation and benefit plans; and our success at managing the risks involved in the foregoing items.For further information with respect to factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from the expectations or projections stated in the forward-looking statements, please see the Company’s publicly available Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the Company’s Form 10-K for the last fiscal year and, in particular, the discussion of “Risk Factors” set forth therein. We urge investors to consider all of these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements contained in this Form 8-K.Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which such statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statements are made, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events except as required by law.Central Pacific Financial – Corporate ProfileNYSE TICKERSUBSIDIARYTOTALASSETSMARKET CAPSHARE PRICEMARKET INFORMATIONCPFCENTRAL PACIFIC BANK (CPB)$7.2 BILLION$710 MILLION$25.31Central Pacific Financial Corp. is a Hawaii-based bank holding company. Central Pacific Bank (CPB) was founded in 1954 by Japanese-American veterans of World War II to serve the needs of families and small businesses that did not have access to financial services. Today CPB is the 4th largest financial institution in Hawaii with 31 branches across the State. CPB is a market leader in residential mortgage, small business banking and digital banking.

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WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 05: President Biden’s Secretary of Education, Dr. Miguel Cardona, answers … [+] questions during the daily briefing at the White House August 5, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Getty Images
A new report released today by a student loan borrower advocacy organization sheds new light on the troubled Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
The findings, released today by the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC), indicate that by 2026, four out five borrowers seeking relief under Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) will ultimately be rejected, and will not receive student loan forgiveness. The SBPC analyzed data acquired through Freedom Of Information Act requests from the Department of Education and its contracted loan servicer that handles the PSLF program — the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Authority (PHEAA), which operates FedLoan Servicing. The SBPC found that “the company expects only 276,370 borrowers to secure PSLF through January 2026, nearly ten years after borrowers were meant to begin becoming eligible for PSLF in 2017. These borrowers represent only roughly one-in-five borrowers from among the 1,250,373 who have currently declared their intent to pursue PSLF.”

PHEAA disputed the SBPC’s conclusions, and has argued that Congress established the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program with complex eligibility criteria that are difficult for borrowers to navigate, and that many borrowers simply have not complied with those requirements for the requisite time period that would entitle them to student loan forgiveness. Only certain federal student loans are eligible for PSLF, and in most cases borrowers must be in specific types of repayment plans based on their income while working in qualifying public service employment.
Still, the SBPC’s new report is just the latest bombshell exposing widespread problems with the PSLF program. Another report issued earlier this year by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that student loan servicers have engaged in systematic mismanagement of Public Service Loan Forgiveness, often providing misinformation or misrepresenting the rights and options of borrowers, leading to harmful and costly outcomes. Meanwhile, the program has consistently suffered from extraordinarily high denial rates since borrowers first became eligible in 2017; the latest statistics from the Department of Education show that only roughly 2% of borrowers who apply for student loan forgiveness through PSLF have been approved.

Complicating matters further is an ongoing backlog of PSLF applications, which earlier this summer caused extensive processing delays of six months or longer for borrowers applying for student loan forgiveness. And now the Department of Education will need to transfer over 8 million borrower accounts — many of which are enrolled in PSLF — due to the imminent departure of FedLoan Servicing, which has been administering the PSLF program on behalf of the Department of Education.
Advocacy organizations have called on the Biden administration to use executive authority to make sweeping reforms to the PSLF program to allow more borrowers to quickly get their student loans forgiven. Earlier this year, a coalition of over 100 student loan borrower advocacy groups sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, urging him to automatically wipe out the federal student loan debt for borrowers who have completed ten or more years of public service, regardless of their specific compliance with the PSLF program’s complicated requirements.

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The Department of Education “already has expansive tools at its disposal that it could use to fundamentally fix PSLF,” wrote the SBPC in today’s report. The SBPC and other advocacy organizations argue that under the HEROES Act of 2003, the Secretary of Education has the legal authority to initiate “waivers and modifications” of key federal student aid programs during a “national emergency,” such as the ongoing pandemic. President Trump and President Biden both relied on this executive authority to extend the current pause on student loan payments and the waiver of interest, which is now set to expire on January 31, 2022.

The Biden administration has promised to look into fixes for the troubled program. “We need to work hard to make sure that the… Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is working in the way it’s supposed to,” said Secretary Cardona at a public roundtable discussion of the PSLF program earlier this year. “There’s a lot of work for us to do.” The administration is also considering a major overhaul of the PSLF program, along with other student loan forgiveness and repayment programs, as part of a negotiated rulemaking process to rewrite federal regulations governing many federal student aid programs. But any resulting reforms could be years away.
Advocates are urging the administration not to wait to make fundamental changes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness. “President Biden can use this power immediately to fix PSLF on behalf of borrowers who have been denied the promise of loan relief,” wrote the SBPC.
Further Reading
Biden Administration Cancels $1 Billion In Student Loans But Bungles The Rollout, Concerning Advocates
Biden To Automatically Cancel $5.

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