On August 29, 2024, the CFPB announced that it had entered into a stipulation and consent order with a Florida-based mortgage lender, resolving allegations that the mortgage provider had misrepresented the payment terms of cash-out mortgage refinance loans it offered to servicemembers and veterans. In its consent order, the CFPB alleged that the mortgage lender committed deceptive acts or practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531, 5536. The CFPB also alleged that in offering Veterans Affairs-guaranteed mortgage refinancing services to borrowers, the mortgage provider misled borrowers into believing that their mortgages would be less expensive after a refinance by omitting taxes and insurance amounts when representing to lenders what their monthly mortgage payment amount would be after refinancing, while including such amounts when representing their current mortgage payment amount. The CFPB further alleged that while these omissions misled consumers into believing that their mortgages would be less expensive following a refinancing, in fact consumers’ mortgages would often become more expensive following a refinancing. Under the consent order, the mortgage provider agreed to pay a civil money penalty of $2.25 million. |
