On December 19, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had filed actions against four separate Virginia-based pawnbrokers for alleged violations of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). The nearly identical Complaints allege that the pawnbrokers misled consumers by enticing them…
On December 16, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Moneytree, Inc., which offers payday loans and other financial services, entered into a consent order that requires Moneytree to pay approximately $255,000 in restitution to consumers and to pay an additional civil money penalty of $250,000. The consent order concerns the CFPB’s allegations that…
On November 15, 2016, the Central District of California issued a ruling (subscription required) in CFPB v. Prime Marketing Holdings, LLC dismissing without prejudice four out of five claims on grounds that plaintiff CFPB had not satisfied the heightened pleading standard of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b). The court held that…
On December 2, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a status update regarding various initiatives that were proposed in its fall 2016 rulemaking agenda. The update provides readers with an overview of the CFPB’s proposals and observes that comments submitted in connection with a number of the proposals…
On December 7, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into consent orders with three different reverse mortgage companies concerning alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) and Regulation N’s prohibitions on making material misrepresentations as to any “mortgage credit product.” The first consent order…
On November 28, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it issued a compliance bulletin warning regulated financial companies about the use of employee incentive programs in providing their financial products to consumers. The Bureau advised that these types of programs, if run unchecked or with excessive sales goals,…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) recently-released Request for Information Regarding Consumer Access to Financial Records (RFI) suggests that the agency is considering making a new rule to set requirements and protections for the use of consumers’ financial information. In publishing the RFI, the CFPB notes that the Dodd-Frank Act “provides…
In the third quarter of 2016, Consumer Enforcement Watch tracked 37 enforcement actions taken against consumer financial service providers. This represents a decrease from the 46 enforcement actions that were tracked last quarter and the 50 actions that we tracked in Q1. 25 of the Q3 enforcement actions were settlements…
On November 21, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland against a structured settlement company and certain of the company’s principals, alleging that the company violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) by defrauding lead paint victims. According to the…
The results of the recent election have led to speculation regarding what legal changes are in store for the consumer financial services industry and the CFPB in particular. Although President-elect Trump and other Republicans have made statements regarding “dismantling” the Dodd-Frank Act, few concrete proposals have been put forward. In…
On November 10, 2016, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the owner of a debt collection company was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $3.9 million in restitution to consumers. After a five day trial, the jury found that…
On November 3, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed suit against a Virginia pawnbroker, alleging that the pawnbroker violated the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) by failing to disclose an annual percentage rate (APR) on its closed-end pawn contracts. According…
On November 2, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and New York Attorney General (AG) announced the filing of a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York against participants in a purported New York-based nationwide debt collection scheme. According to the complaint, the…
On October 11, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a national credit union over allegations that the credit union made false and misleading representations to consumers when attempting to collect on past due accounts. The credit union serves military members and their families. The…
Click here to check out the latest article from LenderLaw Watch – DC Court of Appeals Rules CFPB Director’s “For-Cause Only” Removal Unconstitutional; Reinforces Long-Standing RESPA Interpretation. The article analyzes yesterday’s decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. LenderLaw Watch previously wrote about the PHH…
Today the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued its long-awaited ruling in the PHH v. CFPB appeal (opinion here). LLW has written about the PHH case here and here before, and below are some quick takeaways from the court’s 110-page ruling for industry watchers: The court determined that…
On September 27, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with an online lender, after a joint investigation with the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO), over allegations that the lender deceptively marketed its loan products and hid the true cost of credit…
On September 26, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) entered into a consent order with one of the country’s largest auto title lenders over allegations that the lender misled consumers about the terms and costs of their loan agreements and engaged in unlawful debt collection activities. The CFPB alleged that…
On September 22, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against a credit repair company for allegedly making misleading representations and charging illegal fees. The case, CFPB v. Prime Marketing Holdings, LLC, No. 2:16-cv-7111 (C.D. Cal.),…
On September 23, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed suit against a credit repair company in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, for alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), and the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention…