On April 25, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it entered into two settlements, available here and here, with a law firm and a financial services company over allegations the entities filed debt collection lawsuits without properly verifying the underlying debt obligations, in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act…
On March 16, 2016, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office announced that two financial services companies specializing in auto loans agreed to pay a total of $7.4 million in restitution to Massachusetts consumers over allegations the companies charged excessive interest rates on auto loans. According to the Massachusetts AG, the companies purchased loans from primary creditors…
On November 20, 2015, the CFPB published its current rulemaking agenda. Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, the CFPB drafts and implements new regulations governing certain consumer finance products and services. The CFPB publishes its regulatory agenda twice a year, which summarizes the proposed regulations (or “rules”) the Bureau is…
On November 5, 2015 the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office announced that a national auto loan company agreed to pay $5.4 million in restitution to Massachusetts consumers to settle allegations it charged excessive interest rates on automobile loans. According to the Massachusetts AG, the company purchased loans from primary creditors that contained…
On November 2, 2015, the California Attorney General’s Office announced that it had entered into a $100 million stipulated judgment with a national bank over allegations that the bank engaged in abusive debt collection practices, in violation of California’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The allegations relate to the bank’s…
For the second quarter of 2015, Consumer Finance Enforcement Watch tracked 56 enforcement actions taken against consumer finance providers, a slight uptick in enforcement activity from the previous quarter’s 46 actions. Although the 56 actions ranged from court-enforcement consent settlement agreements, administrative settlements, administrative actions, civil judgments, and new civil…
On August 19, 2015, the New York Attorney General’s Office announced an interim agreement with a subsidiary of a national banking organization over allegations that the bank charged improper fees on customer’s inactive accounts. The bank managed consumer investment accounts and charged a variety of fees for account management services….
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…
For the first quarter of 2015, Consumer Finance Enforcement Watch tracked 46 instances of enforcement activity taken against a consumer finance service provider. Not surprisingly, the year started off slow with only 9 enforcement actions taken in January, likely due to agencies wrapping-up actions before year-end 2014. The 46 actions ranged…