As Enforcement Watch reported in late September, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it had filed a proposed consent judgment in the United States District Court for Delaware to resolve claims relating to the servicing and debt collection activities on a portfolio of about 800,000 student loans. Under the proposed settlement agreement, the student loan trusts…
On September 27, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a real estate settlement services provider for allegedly steering consumers to an affiliated title insurer without disclosing the relationship, an alleged violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), 12 U.S.C. 2607, and…
On September 18, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it had entered into a settlement and proposed consent judgment with a student loan owner and securitizer, and a separate consent judgment with the securitizer’s debt collector. The securitizer has a loan portfolio of approximately 800,000 student loans. According…
On September 19, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced a simultaneous complaint and proposed consent order with a loan brokerage company and two associated individuals (the “Defendants”). The Defendants are alleged to have made misrepresentations concerning the brokerage and the loan terms they offered to potential borrowers. According to the CFPB,…
On September 8, a federal judge in California ordered a national mortgage services company to pay a $7.9 million civil penalty based on false or misleading marketing statements it allegedly made to consumers about its mortgage loan repayment services. The court, however, denied the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB”) request for $74 million in restitution, finding that the…
In the second quarter of 2017, Consumer Enforcement Watch tracked 40 enforcement actions taken against consumer financial service providers. This represents a marginal decrease from the 46 enforcement actions taken against consumer financial service providers that we tracked last quarter, and from the 46 enforcement actions tracked in the second…
On September 6, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a lead aggregator over claims the aggregator steered consumers towards lenders who offered installment or payday loans that were illegal in consumers’ states. The consent order claimed that the aggregator sold loan applications to lenders…
On August 30, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had filed a stipulated proposed final judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in a case against a California-based credit repair company. The lawsuit, which was initially filed in September 2016, alleges that the credit repair…
On July 25, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Arbitration Rule from becoming effective with a vote of 231 to 190. The vote was mostly down party lines and paves the way for the Senate to act to impose its own…
On August 17, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it filed a complaint and proposed settlement against an Oregon private equity firm and related entities for aiding a post-secondary education company and its school’s predatory lending scheme. The CFPB alleges that the private equity firm enabled the school…
On August 4, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published four prototypes of model overdraft disclosure forms the Bureau is testing as part of its broader “Know Before You Owe” efforts. The prototypes are an important indicator that the CFPB is still actively paying attention to issues concerning overdraft…
On August 4, 2017, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania denied a student loan servicer’s motion to dismiss claims brought against it by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), rejecting the servicer’s argument that the claims fail because the CFPB is unconstitutional. In January 2017, the…
On August 2, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a national bank, resolving allegations as to the bank’s allegedly unlawful credit reporting activities. According to the CFPB, the bank violated several federal laws with respect to its reporting practices, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15…
On July 20, 2017, the CFPB announced that updates to its Spring 2017 rulemaking agenda have been posted online on the Office of Management and Budget’s webpage. The amended agenda highlights both areas of anticipated regulatory focus as well as recent rule changes that the CFPB is already in the process…
As LenderLaw Watch previously reported, on July 10, 2017 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its Arbitration Rule, which blocks the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in consumer financial products and services contracts that prohibit class action lawsuits. On July 19, 2017, the CFPB published this Rule in the Federal Register,…
On June 27, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a state-by-state breakdown of consumer complaints that have been filed with the CFPB. The snapshot—which is contained in the June 2017 edition of the CFPB’s Monthly Complaint Report—compiled data from the CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Database about the number of…
On July 10, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced the release of its anticipated Arbitration Rule, opening the door for more consumer class actions against financial institutions concerning financial products and services. Many consumer contracts, such as credit card and bank agreements, contain mandatory arbitration clauses. These clauses…
On June 27, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed two complaints and proposed final judgments against four California-based credit repair companies for misleading consumers and charging illegal fees. The CFPB alleged that the companies charged illegal advance fees for credit repair services and misrepresented their ability to repair…
On June 21, 2017, a federal judge in the Western District of Wisconsin accepted a Stipulated Final Judgment and Order (“Stipulated Judgment“) based on an agreement between the CFPB and the bankruptcy trustee of a now defunct mortgage relief law firm. The Stipulated Judgment comes three years after the CFPB…
On June 12, 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a 150-page report called for by President Trump’s Executive Order 13772 on Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System. The Report, entitled “A Financial System that Creates Economic Opportunities: Banks and Credit Unions,” is the first in a…