Search Results: Mortgage

CFPB Enters Into $1 Million Consent Order with Nonbank Mortgage Lender

On February 27, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order​​ with a mortgage lender, resolving allegations that the lender engaged in “a series of repeat offenses,” including violating a 2015 order prohibiting the lender from engaging in allegedly deceptive advertising.  According to the CFPB, the lender sent advertisements to…

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Court Dismisses CFPB’s ECOA Action Alleging Discrimination Against Prospective Applicants Against Nonbank Lender

On February 3, 2023, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted Defendants Townstone Financial, Inc., a mortgage broker/lender, and Barry Sturner’s, Townstone’s owner, motion to dismiss the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB or Bureau) redlining complaint brought under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), ECOA’s…

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Massachusetts AG Settles with Mortgage Servicer for $975,000

​On December 22, 2022, the Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) announced ​a settlement ​with a South Carolina mortgage servicing company ​to resolve allegations that the company violated state mortgage servicing and debt collection laws. ​​​​ ​After an investigation, the AG alle​ged that the servicer did not take “reasonable steps” to help borrowers avoid foreclosures…

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CFPB Reaches $3.7 Billion Settlement With National Bank to Resolve Alleged UDAAP Violations

On December 20, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a large national bank to resolve alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s (CFPA) prohibition of unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices, 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531 and 5536. According to the…

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CFPB Enters into $5.25 Million Consent Order with California Mortgage Servicer

On November 17, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a California-based mortgage servicer concerning its purported failure to provide certain borrowers forbearances and protections from credit reporting, as required under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).  According to the CFPB, the servicer’s…

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DOJ Reaches $1.3 Million Settlement with Mortgage Lender for Allegedly Discriminatory Pricing Practices

On September 29, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it reached a settlement with a Memphis-based bank to resolve alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619, and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1691–1691f, and its implementing Regulation B, 12 C.F.R. §…

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CFPB and DOJ Reach $24.4 Million Settlement with Mortgage Originator for Alleged Lending Discrimination

On July 27, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that they reached a settlement with a nonbank residential mortgage lender to resolve allegations of race-based lending discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601-3619; the Equal Credit Opportunity Act…

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HUD Reaches Settlement with Mortgage Originator for Alleged Lending Discrimination

​On June 2, 2022,​ the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it reached a settlement agreemen​t with a non-bank residential mortgage lender to resolve allegations of race-based lending discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.  The settlement arose from a complaint filed ​with a fair…

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North Carolina AG Permanently Enjoins Debt Settlement Business

​On May 26, 2022, the North Carolina Attorney General (NC AG) announced that it obtained a default judgment against a California-based debt settlement business, and its proprietor.  The lawsuit, filed on June 25, 2021 in the North Carolina Superior Court for Wake County, alleged that the entity violated North Carolina’s Debt Adjusting Act, N.C. Gen. Stat….

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CFPB, Banking Agencies, and State Regulators Warn of Increased Scrutiny on Mortgage Servicers

The CFPB, federal banking agencies, and state regulators are returning to pre-pandemic norms with respect to enforcement and supervision of the mortgage servicing industry.  On November 10, 2021, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union…

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CFPB Releases Report Analyzing Consumer Complaint Data By Demographics

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its first in-depth report analyzing consumer complaint submission patterns by demographic characteristics. The CFPB’s findings were based on nearly 1 million consumer complaints submitted to the CFPB between 2018 and 2020.  The CFPB’s report classified complaints by matching the relevant consumers to U.S….

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CFPB Announces Consent Order with Reverse Mortgage Lender Imposing $1.1 Million in Penalties

On October 8, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) a​nnounced  the filing of a complaint and proposed consent order against a reverse mortgage lender in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.  In the complaint, the CFPB alleged the lender engaged in deceptive advertising practices in violation of the Consumer Financial…

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Virginia AG Settles with Foreclosure Rescue Lender

On August 24, 2021, the Virginia Attorney General (“Virginia AG”) announced that it entered into settlement ​with a Virginia-based lender and its managing member over allegations that the lender violated §§ 6.2-303 and 6.2-1501(A) of Virginia’s consumer finance statute.​​​  The settlement was filed as a consent judgment in the Circuit Court for​ the…

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DOJ and OCC Obtain $5.5 Million Settlement, Resolving Allegations of Lending Discrimination

On August 30, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that, together with Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), it reached a settlement with a bank, resolving allegations that the bank engaged in lender discrimination in the Houston, Texas area. In 2017, the OCC initiated a fair lending examination…

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CFPB Finalizes Amendments to Regulation X to Protect Borrowers Against Forthcoming Increase In COVID-19 Foreclosures

On June 28, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized amendments to the implementing regulation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Regulation X, which would establish temporary protections for mortgage borrowers as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and various Federal and State…

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