On June 14, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed its opening brief in its appeal of a U.S. district court’s decision in the CFPB’s enforcement action against Townstone Mortgage (Townstone). The CFPB’s brief argues that the Seventh Circuit should reverse the district court’s holding that the Equal Credit…
On April 3, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a notice to appeal a district court’s decision to dismiss its complaint against Townstone Finance, Inc. (Townstone), a nonbank mortgage lender, and its owner Barry Sturner, for allegedly violating the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). Relying on the language…
On April 27, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania certified a class comprised of individuals alleging the Defendants violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Plaintiffs allege Defendants violated the FDCPA by sending collections letters encouraging individuals to accept discounted repayment offers before a…
On November 8, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Consumer Credit Fairness Act (the Act) into law. The Act will likely have substantial impact on debt collection lawsuits filed by creditors or debt collectors in New York. The Act not only reduces the statute of limitations for filing…
On October 19, 2021, the CFPB announced that it entered a consent order against a Florida-based financial services company, resolving claims that the company violated the Unfair, Deceptive, Abusive Acts and Practices (UDAAP) provisions of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a) by charging unlawful fees, and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act,…
On October 8, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced the filing of a complaint and proposed consent order against a reverse mortgage lender in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. In the complaint, the CFPB alleged the lender engaged in deceptive advertising practices in violation of the Consumer Financial…
On September 30, 2021, the Minnesota Attorney General (“Minnesota AG”) announced that a federal bankruptcy court had approved $23.6 million in student debt relief and $15.8 million in restitution for students of two for-profit universities that allegedly engaged in consumer fraud and illegal lending practices. The settlement, originally announced in March 2021, resolved allegations that the universities misled students…
On August 17, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a proposed settlement order that would resolve allegations that a debt collection company had violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and its implementing regulation, Regulation V, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The CFPB’s complaint, filed in…
On July 12, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement with two Florida-based companies and their CEO, resolving allegations that the companies aided a student debt relief scam by providing false or deceptive information in order to obtain merchant processing for the scheme. The settlement will permanently bar the two…
On June 29, 2021, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced it entered consent orders with two New York-based banks for allegedly violating New York’s fair lending laws in the course of providing auto loans. The banks will pay $275,000 and $350,000 in penalties to the state to resolve the allegations. DFS alleged that the…
On June 29, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it filed a proposed stipulated order with a Maryland-based debt relief and credit repair company concerning alleged violations of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). If accepted by the court, the order would ban the company and its…
On May 10, 2021, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced a settlement with an Oregon-based bank concerning the bank’s alleged violations of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1). Under the settlement, the bank stipulated to the issuance of an order to pay a civil money penalty of $1.8 million. The FDIC…
On January 19, 2020, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) launched an investigation into a dozen debt collectors potentially engaging in unlawful, unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) under California law. This represents the first major public action taken under the expanded oversight and enforcement authority of the California…
On December 16, 2020, the Pennsylvania Attorney General (Pennsylvania AG) announced a settlement with a California-based student loan forgiveness company for alleged violations of state consumer protection laws. According to the Pennslyvania AG, the company used false advertising tactics and posted fraudulent customer reviews on the Better Business Bureau website. Further, the company…
On November 16, 2020, the Maryland Attorney General (Maryland AG) announced a settlement with a Texas-based debt buyer regarding a portfolio of student loan debt the buyer purchased from a court-appointed receiver following the closure of a for-profit college. The $2,622,877 settlement immediately discharges any outstanding loans and refunds 75%…
On October 7, 2020, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (Massachusetts AG) announced a judgment obtained against a student loan debt relief company in Suffolk Superior Court for allegedly unlawful and predatory business practices. According to the AG, the company charged unlawful upfront and continuing fees to consumers, misrepresented the scope…
On August 19, 2020, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General announced that it had entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with a regional bank to stop allegedly aggressive auto loan debt collection practices. The agreement arose out of allegations made by the Pennsylvania AG that the bank engaged in unfair and manipulative practices,…
On July 30, 2020, the Massachusetts Attorney General (Massachusetts AG) announced a settlement with a Nevada-based debt buyer regarding a portfolio of loan debt it purchased from a for-profit education company. The settlement resolves the Massachusetts AG’s allegations that, between 2010 and 2016, the for-profit education company misled students by…
On June 22, 2020, the Massachusetts Attorney General announced a settlement with a Florida-based mortgage loan servicer following an investigation into the servicer’s debt collection practices. Specifically, the settlement resolves allegations that the servicer made excessive calls to distressed homeowners and failed to provide written notice of their right to…