Innovation and technology are not the magic wands that will help low-income Americans climb out of debt; they often are tools used to prey on the neediest people, Seth Frotman, the CFPB’s general counsel told the Poverty Law...more
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
Career Step LLC, an online career training company has been ordered to pay $43.5 million in cash and debt cancellation to resolve FTC charges that the company “lured consumers, specifically servicemembers and their families,...more
8/14/2024
/ Cancellation of Debt (COD) ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Debt ,
Debt Collection ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Military Service Members ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Education ,
Redress Payments ,
Students
The CFPB recently filed two amicus briefs, one in a First Circuit case involving the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the other, which was filed jointly with the Federal Trade Commission, in a Fourth Circuit...more
1/5/2024
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Debt ,
Debt Collectors ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
FDCPA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry
Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, and Democratic committee members Raphael Warnock and John Fetterman, have sent a letter to Director Chopra urging the CFPB to “continue focusing on”...more
The Consumer Bankers Association has issued the third and fourth blog posts in its four-part “Facts Matter” blog series on how the CFPB’s public statements can mislead market observers by painting a picture of the credit...more
The CFPB recently announced the settlement of a bankruptcy court adversary proceeding filed jointly with the Attorneys General of 11 states against Prehired, LLC (Prehired) and two affiliated companies (Prehired Affiliates)...more
12/1/2023
/ Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Consumer Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt ,
FDCPA ,
Final Judgment ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Income Share Agreements ,
Loans ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
State Attorneys General ,
Statutory Violations ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
In its third lawsuit filed under the leadership of Acting Director Uejio, the CFPB, earlier this week, sued Student Loan Pro (SLP), a student loan debt relief company, its owner, and its manager, for alleged violations of the...more
The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has announced the creation of a Student Debt Advisory Board to advise on consumer protection, student financial products or services, and communities that have been...more
The Federal Reserve Board announced last week that it was launching a new article series, Consumer & Community Context, that features original analysis about the financial conditions and experiences of consumers and...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued a new report, Data Point: Final Student Loan Payments and Broader Household Borrowing, which examines repayment patterns for student loans and how borrowers who have...more
When a consumer's current balance will increase over time due to interest and late fees, a debt collection notice must disclose this information, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled. In Avila v....more
A voicemail message should not be considered a “communication” that is actionable under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled, unless the message at least...more
The Uniform Law Commission (ULC), a non-partisan organization committed to drafting uniform state laws, has authorized the formation of a committee to study the need for and feasibility of state legislation to address the...more
The CFPB, together with the FTC, has filed an amicus brief in Hernandez v. Williams, Zinman & Parham, P.C., a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. ...more
The New York Attorney General recently announced a settlement with Forster & Garbus, a large debt collection law firm that had filed collection actions against consumers arising out of payday loans. Specifically, Attorney...more
Two recent articles highlight how student loan debt is often the subject of distorted reporting.
An article from Hamilton Place Strategies observed that news stories often include anecdotal stories about families...more
The debt collection industry continues to be a major focus of the Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement efforts, as shown by the agency’s decision to simultaneously announce two settlements last week with Tennessee and New...more
A new report from The Vanguard Group disagrees with those who seek to draw comparisons between the current level of student debt and the level of mortgage debt that led to the housing crisis.
Titled “No bubble to...more
We recently wrote about a new Brookings Institution report which suggested that charges coming from various quarters, including the CFPB, that student loan debt is causing young adults to postpone home ownership are...more
The charge that student loan debt is causing young adults to postpone home ownership has come from various quarters, including the CFPB. However, two new studies, one the subject of an article released earlier this year and...more
According to a report issued yesterday by the CFPB entitled “Data point: Medical debt and credit scores,” credit scoring models may be overly penalizing consumers with medical debts that go into collection by producing credit...more
The West Virginia Legislature recently passed H.B. 4360, which amended Section 46A-2-128 of the West Virginia Code, that defines what constitutes unfair or unconscionable debt collection activities. The amendments are...more
A new amicus brief filing by the CFPB recently appeared on the CFPB’s amicus program webpage. On August 14, 2013, the CFPB, jointly with the FTC, filed an amicus brief in Delgado v. Capital Management Services, LP, et al., a...more
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has proposed new regulations that would impose significant disclosure and other requirements on persons engaged in the collection of consumer debts....more