Student loans

The California plan to create a new, tougher state regulatory agency is at the finish line after lawmakers agreed to key exemptions for banks while maintaining strong enforcement measures for payday lenders and other firms.

The legislation, which would apply to both banks and nonbanks, would give borrowers the right to sue for damages when servicing violations occur.

An industry coalition wants to ensure borrowers who took out certain types of loans to fund their education aren’t locked out of access to historically low mortgage rates.

If it’s approved, the charter is expected to lower the fintech’s cost of funds and allow for more product offerings. It comes nearly three years after SoFi pulled the plug on an earlier effort to open an industrial bank.

The fixed-rate loans from Earnest involve refinancings to advanced degree professionals who have greater financial means to make payments despite the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Discover and Sallie Mae are the latest to report a surge in forbearance requests as households struggle with job loss and other hardships resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

More than a dozen firms have struck agreements with nine states to provide forbearance to customers struggling to make payments in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Federal Reserve committed Monday to conducting more asset purchases of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities and announced $300 billion in new financing for credit facilities.

The pandemic has upended staffing plans, sparked concerns about servicers’ capacity to handle the expected crush of missed payments, and even raised questions about their ability to stay afloat.

Members of the House Financial Services Committee chastised Kathy Kraninger for not supervising student loan servicers and failing to examine firms for compliance with the Military Lending Act.