Peter N. Cubita

Peter N. Cubita has practiced in consumer financial services law at major law firms and leading financial institutions for more than 40 years. His experience in the consumer financial services area spans regulatory compliance, transactional, class action litigation, government investigations and enforcement matters.

Peter advises clients on a wide range of consumer finance and leasing products, including credit cards, installment loans, point-of-sale financing, vehicle finance, and consumer leasing, and the federal and state regulatory frameworks governing them across their product life cycles.

A strategic leader in auto finance and leasing, Peter helped develop the first generation of proprietary retail installment sale contracts and vehicle leasing agreements for a major captive auto finance company. His zealous advocacy in litigation yielded seminal appellate decisions in Perrone v. General Motors Acceptance Corporation, 232 F.3d 433 (5th Cir. 2000), which held that an individualized demonstration of detrimental reliance is required to recover actual damages for a TILA disclosure violation, and Coleman v. General Motors Acceptance Corporation, 296 F.3d 443 (6th Cir. 2002), which held that compensatory damages under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act are not recoverable by a Rule 23(b)(2) class.

Peter draws upon his extensive and varied experience to help clients meet their business objectives while controlling for risk. He has written and presented widely on consumer finance issues and is a two-time recipient of distinguished legal writing awards from The Burton Awards for thought leadership reflected in articles relating to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

• American Bar Association
  • Consumer Financial Services Committee
    • Personal Property Financing Subcommittee, Former Chair and Vice Chair
• Conference on Consumer Finance Law
  • Governing Committee
• American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers, Fellow
  • Former Regent
• New York State Bar Association
  • Consumer Financial Services Committee, Former Chair
• American Financial Services Association
  • Law Committee
    • Vehicle Financing Subcommittee, Former Subcommittee Counsel
• Association of Consumer Vehicle Lessors
  • Legal Committee, Former Co-Chair

• 2016 Distinguished Legal Writing Award from The Burton Awards for article titled, "Auto Finance and Disparate Impact: Substantive Lessons Learned from Class Certification Decisions," Consumer Financial Services Law Report, Volume 18, Issue 21 (May 1, 2015)
• 2007 Burton Award for Legal Achievement from The Burton Awards for article titled "The ECOA Discrimination Proscription and Disparate Impact – Interpreting the Meaning of the Words That Actually Are There," 61 The Business Lawyer, 829 (2006)

• "Federal District Court Denies State AGs’ Request to Redirect Unused CFPB Settlement Funds to NAAG," 71 Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report 3 (2017)
• "Divided U.S. Supreme Court Holds Disparate Impact Claims Cognizable Under FHA, but Subject to Safeguards Against Abusive Disparate Impact Claims," Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report, Vol. 68, No. 4 (December 2015)
• "Auto Finance and Disparate Impact: Substantive Lessons Learned from Class Certification Decisions," Consumer Financial Services Law Report, Volume 18, Issue 21 (May 1, 2015)
• "The ECOA Discrimination Proscription and Disparate Impact – Interpreting the Meaning of the Words That Actually Are There," 61 The Business Lawyer 829 (2006)
• "The Evolution of the TILA Actual Damages Standard," 57 Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report 197 (2003)
• "RESPA: The Changing Landscape," 58 The Business Lawyer 1259 (2003)
• "The New York State Predatory Lending Law," 57 Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report 135 (2003)
• "Toward Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Legislation?," 54 The Business Lawyer 1453 (1999)
• "Toward a Uniform Consumer Leases Act?," 52 The Business Lawyer 1041 (1998)
• "An Overview of State Automobile Leasing Legislation," 52 The Business Lawyer 1087 (1997)
• "A Practical Guide To The Truth-in-Lending Act," Executive Enterprises (1990)
• "Implementation of the Fair Credit and Charge Card Disclosure Act of 1988: The Regulatory Response," 44 The Business Lawyer 1427 (1989)