The most frequent consumer debt collection complaints filed with the CFPB in 2023 were attempts to collect debts that actually were not owed, the bureau said in its annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act report....more
9/12/2024
/ Consumer Complaint System ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Cards ,
Debt ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FDCPA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry
The CFPB and Credit Repair Cloud, have reached agreement over allegations that the firm helped other credit repair businesses charge illegal fees to consumers....more
8/22/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Repair Services ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hidden Fees ,
Settlement ,
Telemarketing ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The FTC has shut down Michigan-based Financial Education Services, a credit repair company that the agency says actually was a large pyramid scheme...more
The CFPB issued its final rule, titled the Registry of Nonbank Covered Persons Subject to Certain Agency and Court Orders Final Rule, on June 3, 2024. The rule will require certain nonbank entities to register certain covered...more
6/5/2024
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Nonbank Firms ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements
On April 17th, the CFPB issued a consent order to a for-profit training school alleging numerous violations of law related to its use if income share agreements (“ISAs”). According to the Bureau, BloomTech, Inc. (“BloomTech”)...more
4/29/2024
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Holder Rule ,
Income Share Agreements ,
Regulation Z ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA) ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On March 28, 2024, four former Walden University students (“Plaintiffs”) filed a proposed settlement both individually and on behalf of a putative class of current and former Walden University (“Walden”) students with the...more
4/8/2024
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Student Loans ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining ,
Settlement ,
Title VI
The CFPB and Justice Department filed a joint complaint last week in a Texas federal district court against Colony Ridge Development, LLC and three related entities (collectively, “Colony Ridge”) in which the agencies allege...more
12/28/2023
/ Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
ILSA ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Predatory Lending ,
Statutory Violations
On December 7, 2023, Atlantic Union Bank (the “Bank”) entered into a consent order with the Consumer Financial Protections Bureau (CFPB) related to its in-person and telephone overdraft opt-in sales practices during...more
12/11/2023
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EFTA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Late Fees ,
Opt-In ,
Overdraft Fees ,
Overdraft Rule ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation E ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SBREFA ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
Recently the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a proposed consent order with Ameris Bank to resolve allegations of redlining from 2016 through 2021 in majority Black and Hispanic areas in the Bank’s Jacksonville,...more
10/30/2023
/ Banks ,
Community Reinvestment Act ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining ,
Regulation B
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it has entered into a Consent Order with Chime Inc., a nonbank fintech company, to settle alleged violations of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), Subpart B of...more
10/20/2023
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
EFTA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Non-Bank Lenders ,
Regulation E ,
Remittance Transfer Rule ,
Statutory Violations
The CFPB and FTC announced last week that they had entered into a settlement with Trans Union LLC (TU LLC) to resolve a lawsuit filed jointly in a Colorado federal district court by the agencies alleging that TU LLC and its...more
10/18/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Reports ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FTC Act ,
Screening Procedures ,
Settlement ,
Statutory Violations ,
TransUnion
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it has entered into a settlement with American Bank of Oklahoma (ABOK) to resolve allegations that ABOK engaged in unlawful redlining in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The DOJ opened its...more
9/1/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgages ,
Redlining
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (CA DFPI), and ten state Attorneys General have filed a lawsuit against Prehired, LLC (Prehired) and two related...more
7/19/2023
/ California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Income Share Agreements ,
Statutory Violations ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
The CFPB and the OCC announced that they have each entered into a consent order with Bank of America, N.A. for alleged violations arising from the Bank’s representment fee practices (“Fee Consent Orders”). The CFPB also...more
7/13/2023
/ Bank of America ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Deposit Accounts ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
OCC ,
Popular ,
Statutory Violations
The CFPB has filed its opening brief in its appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from the district court’s decision in the CFPB’s enforcement action against Townstone Mortgage (Townstone). In the case,...more
6/21/2023
/ Chevron Deference ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining
The CFPB announced at the end of last week that it had entered into a consent order with Phoenix Financial Services, LLC (Phoenix), a third-party debt collector that collects primarily past-due medical debts and furnishes...more
6/13/2023
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
CRA ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Medical Debt ,
Regulation V ,
Third-Party
The CFPB has issued an advisory opinion that affirms that the use of “name-only matching” by consumer reporting agencies, including tenant and employment screening companies, does not satisfy the FCRA requirement for a CRA...more
On December 30, 2020, the CFPB announced a consent order with Omni Financial of Nevada, Inc. based on alleged violations of the Military Lending Act (MLA) and Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA). This is the second consent...more
The FTC has announced a settlement of its first enforcement action targeting the practice of “debt parking.” As described in the FTC’s complaint filed in a Missouri federal district court against Midwest Recovery Systems,...more
The CFPB has issued its final Advisory Opinions Policy, which allows stakeholders to request interpretive guidance “to resolve regulatory uncertainty.” While advisory opinions (AO) may address uncertainty in both statutes...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled last week in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Navient Corp. that the PA Attorney General could bring a parallel enforcement action against Navient, a servicer of federal...more
8/5/2020
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Education ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Student Loans ,
Higher Education Act ,
Misrepresentation ,
Preemption ,
State Attorneys General ,
Student Loans ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The CFPB filed a complaint last week in a California federal district court against several companies and individuals involved in offering student loan debt relief services for allegedly obtaining consumer reports unlawfully,...more
1/14/2020
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Reports ,
Damages ,
Debt Relief ,
Debt-Relief Industry ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Injunctions ,
Redress Payments ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Student Loans ,
Students ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule
The CFPB, joined by the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, North Carolina Department of Justice, and the Los Angeles City Attorney, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against...more
11/5/2019
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Relief ,
Debt-Relief Industry ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Student Loans ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule ,
UDAP
The CFPB Private Education Loan Ombudsman has issued an annual report containing an analysis of approximately 13,900 federal student loan complaints, 6,700 private student loan complaints, and 4,600 debt collection complaints...more
The CFPB has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s lawsuit against Navient Corp. The PA AG’s lawsuit includes claims that Navient violated the...more
9/6/2019
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Appointments Clause ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Navient ,
Regulatory Violations ,
State Attorneys General ,
Student Loans ,
Take Care Clause ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices