On October 4, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada issued an order requiring that a racecar driver and several corporate defendants pay $1.3 billion in relation to a Kansas City-based payday lending scheme. The order also bans the individual…
On September 21, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas entered a stipulated order for a permanent injunction and civil penalty judgment against the vice president of a debt collector. Following an investigation of the debt collector by the Federal Trade Commission,…
On September 1, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it entered into a stipulated order for permanent injunction against a group of regional law firms over allegations the firms violated the Federal Trade Commission Act by providing illegal mortgage modification services. According to the FTC, the firms charged illegal…
On August 24, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the FTC and the Attorney General for the State of New York (New York AG) reached a settlement with a New York debt collector that will ban the owner and his companies from the debt collection business. The action was part…
On August 25, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that it had agreed to consent orders with a national bank based on its alleged unfair billing practices. The civil money penalty order will require that the bank pay a $3 million civil money penalty. The cease and desist…
On July 14, 2016, the FTC announced that, as part of an ongoing crackdown on deceptive collection practices, it reached a settlement with two debt collectors and three companies charged with using illegal collection tactics. As Enforcement Watch previously covered here, the FTC initially brought the action against the companies in October of 2015 for allegedly taking payments…
On May 9, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a Texas-based debt collector, stemming from allegations that the debt collector had violated the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and the Duties of Furnishers of Information to Consumer…
On April 13, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) assessed a $35 million dollar penalty against a national bank for billing practices alleged to be unfair and deceptive in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The penalty was assessed in connection with a credit…
On March 30, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the Northern District of Illinois granted the FTC and Illinois Attorney General’s request for a temporary restraining order against an Illinois payday loan collection operation. The FTC and AG alleged the payday loan collector was in violation of the FTC Act, Fair Debt Collection…
On February 25, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that on February 16, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California entered a temporary restraining order against a debt relief provider that allegedly deceptively marketed home loan modification services and student loan modification services. The Complaint alleged that for several months…
On February 1, 2016, the FDIC announced that it reached a settlement with a Utah State nonmember Bank for $250,000, to resolve allegations of deceptive and unfair acts and practices under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act for “failing to adequately inform consumers of promotion plan requirements concerning…
On January 27, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it has filed a complaint against a for-profit college for allegedly violating the FTC Act by engaging in deceptive advertising. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The FTC has requested a permanent…
On January 8, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Attorney General for the State of Florida (“Florida AG”) announced charges against a payment processing business relating to an alleged nationwide debt relief telemarketing scam. The amended complaint was filed on December 21, 2015 in the United States District Court for the Middle District…
On January 5, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that two online payday lenders reached a settlement with the FTC to resolve charges that payday lenders illegally charged consumers undisclosed and inflated fees. As part of the settlement, each company agreed to a penalty of $2.2 million and combined waived $68 million in uncollected consumer…
On December 23, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced that it settled claims against a Delaware bank alleging unfair, deceptive, unsafe, and unsound acts and practices in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act (Section 5). According to the FDIC, the bank violated Section 5 by “failing to provide promised protections to…
On December 23, the FDIC and Federal Reserve each announced settlements in closely related enforcement actions against a bank and a company that distributed financial aid refunds. The FDIC settled its claims for deceptive practices in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act with each defendant. The Federal Reserve brought its Section 5…
On December 3, two telemarketers stipulated to a preliminary injunction preventing the companies from making allegedly misleading robocalls to consumers regarding reduction in credit card interest rates as part of a debt relief offering. In the underlying lawsuit, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the State of Florida filed a…
On October 20, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it approved final consent orders against two Law Vegas auto dealers for misrepresenting the cost of cars in advertising, which the dealers had agreed to settle back in June (available here and here). The complaints (available here and here) alleged that the…
On September 16, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had entered a stipulated order with a debt collection services provider over allegations that the debt collector violated the Federal Trade Commission Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by misrepresenting to payday loan recipients that they were delinquent on their debts, collected millions…
On September 8, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) settled with two national banks for alleged violations of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The banks are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the same parent company. The FDIC alleged that the banks engaged in unfair and deceptive practices in connection with…