On August 3, 2015, a national bank revealed in an U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that its student loan servicing practices are under investigation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”). The bank indicated that it is cooperating with the investigation and anticipates the CFPB may order it to remediate its customers and/or…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has set its sights on debt collection practices again. In April, we wrote about the CFPB’s $63 million settlement with a mortgage servicer, Green Tree Mortgage, in part for Green Tree’s alleged treatment of mortgage debt. On July 8, 2015, the CFPB once again demonstrated it was…
On July 30, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a national mortgage servicing company, resolving claims that the servicer engaged in unfair and deceptive practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act. The CFPB alleged that the servicer failed to honor modifications…
On July 28, the Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) announced that it entered into consent orders with a mortgage payment processing company and servicer related to allegedly deceptive advertisements. The consent orders allege that the payment processer partnered with servicers to market and an provide electronic payment system that directly debited…
On June 25, 2015, the CFPB published nearly 8,000 consumer complaint narratives on its website for the first time. The CFPB complaint database has been “live” since June 2012. However, the database initially included only basic, anonymized data about the nature of the complaint; including subject matter and a general…
On July 23, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) filed a complaint and proposed consent order in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California in connection with a settlement reached with a student loan lender that offered fee-based assistance to consumers filling out the federal government’s Free Application…
On July 22, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a consent order against a national bank and its affiliates for its servicing practices affecting private student loan borrowers. The order asserts that the bank violated various sections of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (“CFPA”) and the Fair…
On July 21, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a consent order requiring a national bank and its subsidiaries to provide roughly $700 million in consumer relief due to the bank’s practices relating to its credit card services and add-on products. The consent order states that a CFPB review of the bank’s practices…
On July 9, 2015, the CFPB published a set of Consumer Protection Principles it believes should guide the financial industry in the development of newer, faster methods of payment. These Principles, though merely suggestions, may help members of the financial industry anticipate the expectations of their regulators and develop new…
On July 15, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that claims concerning an indirect auto finance company’s alleged discriminatory lending practices were settled as part of a consent order requiring $24 million in restitution payments to borrowers and changes to the lender’s dealer compensation system. The consent order alleges…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent action against two credit card vendors regarding credit monitoring and identity theft protection services is a reminder of the legal risks associated with certain add-on products. The July 1 settlement, in which the CFPB found that the vendors misled customers about the benefits of…
On July 8, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that claims concerning a bank’s alleged debt collection practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (“CFPA”) had been settled for over $200 million. According to the consent order, the bank “sold to debt buyers certain accounts that were inaccurate, settled, discharged…
For the second time in recent weeks, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) delayed the launch of the new integrated disclosures for residential mortgage loans under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The launch date, now set for Saturday, October 3, was announced…
On June 10, 2015, the CFPB issued a Final Rule amending the scope of its regulatory authority to include “larger participants” of the automobile financing industry. Under the Final Rule, the CFPB will supervise certain nonbank auto finance companies that (1) originate loans for the purchase of automobiles; (2) refinance…
On June 23, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its Supervisory Highlights report detailing the Bureau’s supervision efforts for the first four months of 2015. The report summarizes the most common “illegal practices” uncovered by the Bureau and identifies the areas where the Bureau has focused on in its…
On June 18, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a medical debt collection company over allegations that the company’s debt-collection activities violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). The consent order alleged that the company failed…
On June 17, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had filed a complaint against a national automobile finance company over allegations that the finance company used illegal threats and deceptive tactics to collect debts from military servicemembers. The complaint alleges that the finance company violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act…
On Wednesday, June 10, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced a new rule that grants the CFPB the ability to monitor nonbank companies that qualify as “larger participants of a market for automobile financing.” The CFPB simultaneously adopted a separate rule defining certain automobile leases as a “financial…
On June 9, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it provided its 2014 Annual Financial Acts Enforcement Report (the “Report”) to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and the Federal Reserve Board. The 23-page Report, dated May 29, 2015, provided information about enforcement and related activities involving Regulation Z (Truth in…
On June 5, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered a consent order with a state bank for alleged violations of the Loan Originator Compensation Rule under the Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA) and Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010. The CFPB alleged that the bank paid loan originators based…