On February 3, 2016, in conjunction with a Field Hearing held the same day concerning deposit accounts, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a compliance bulletin on the duties of furnishers of information to maintain adequate policies and procedures that comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) (15…
On December 17, 2015, the CFPB announced a consent order and settlement with a Minnesota-based auto dealer and its affiliated financing company regarding their credit reporting practices in 15 states. The consent order asserts that the companies violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act…
On December 7, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a state debt collector over allegations that the debt collector, which collected telecommunications debt, reported inaccurate information to credit-reporting agencies and collected and reported debt that consumers disputed and that it could not…
The US Supreme Court’s October 2015 term includes three cases that may have important implications for class action litigation: Spokeo Inc. v. Robins et al., 13-1339, Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, 14-857, and Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, 14-1146. In each case, the Court will consider a procedural question whose answer…
On December 3, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) entered a consent order with a national credit reporting company, resolving allegations that the company violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The credit reporting company is in the business of compiling and reselling consumer credit reports to financial service providers, such as…
On November 3, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its Supervisory Highlights report detailing the Bureau’s supervision efforts for May through August of 2015. The report summarizes the violations of consumer protection laws the Bureau observed during the four-month period and identifies the areas in which the Bureau has…
Whole Foods Market Group, Inc. (Whole Foods) recently settled a putative class action relating to Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) disclosures that were allegedly deficient. In Speer v. Whole Foods Market Group, Inc., the plaintiff—a Whole Foods employee—filed suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of…
On September 16, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had entered a stipulated order with the financing arm of a Texas auto dealer to settle allegations regarding the auto dealer’s credit reporting practices. In its simultaneously filed complaint, the FTC alleged that the auto dealer violated the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Fair Credit…
On September 9, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into consent orders with two large debt purchasers for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Consumer Financial Protection Act, and Fair Credit Reporting Act. CFPB alleged that the companies purchased debts that they knew or…
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 May 20, 2015, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, along with attorneys general of thirty other states (“the State AGs”), announced a $6,000,000 settlement with three major credit reporting agencies (“CRAs”). According to the announcement and the Settlement Agreement, the settlement is a culmination of a multistate investigation that the…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) entered into a Proposed Consent Order with a national mortgage servicing company over allegations that its loss-mitigation activities violated the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTCA”), the Consumer Financial Protection Act (“CFPA”), the Fair Debt Collection Practices…
On September 10, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) posted a comment in response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) request for information regarding the use of mobile banking services and products specifically utilized by economically vulnerable or underserved consumers. After briefly articulating some of the benefits of mobile…
Employers use a number of tools to assess any potential hire, and to evaluate existing employees. When using a credit report for these purposes, employers need to be wary of the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s (“FCRA”) (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) provisions. The FCRA has strict procedures, requiring that employers…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced a $5.5 million monetary and injunctive settlement with auto lender Consumer Portfolio Services, Inc. (CPS) concerning allegations that the company used illegal tactics in servicing and collecting consumers’ auto loans, and failed to adopt proper quality controls, in violation of Section 5 of…