On April 11, 2019, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that the AG’s Consumer Protection Division had filed charges against affiliated businesses and their owner (defendants) alleging that they had made unlicensed and usurious consumer loans in the form of “title loans” or “title pawns” secured by Maryland consumers’…
On April 8, the Delaware and Massachusetts Attorney Generals’ Offices (AGs) announced that they had entered into settlements with an auto loan finance company. The AGs alleged that the auto lender facilitated the origination of subprime auto loans that violated state consumer protection laws by funding and securitizing loans that consumers could not…
On March 27, 2019, the Alabama Attorney General (“Alabama AG”), Alabama State Banking Department, and the Director of the Alabama Securities Commission announced that they filed a complaint against a Nevada-based lender and its CEO (“Defendants”) for allegedly making loans at unlawful interest rates to desperate consumers in exchange for their pension benefits in violation…
On March 5, 2019, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (Arizona AG) announced that it had filed a complaint against a California-based online payday lender, its owner, and its wholly owned subsidiary for alleged violations of the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, A.R.S. § 44-1521 et seq. According to the complaint, the defendants marketed and…
On January 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the State of New York announced that they had filed a consent order in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.to settle allegations that a jewelry retailer enrolled customers in credit cards and related products without their consent….
On January 2, 2019, 49 state attorneys general reached a settlement with an Illinois-based for-profit education company, securing approximately $493.7 million in debt relief for over 179,000 students nationwide. The settlement is the result of a five-year investigation, which began in 2014 after states received complaints from students and the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions…
On December 21, 2018, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (“Mass. AG”) announced that it had reached a settlement with a national mortgage servicer, resolving allegations that the company mishandled mortgage loans in violation of the Massachusetts Act Preventing Unlawful and Unnecessary Foreclosures, a 2012 law designed to protect borrowers from foreclosure caused by unfair terms on subprime mortgages….
On December 28, 2018, the Attorneys General (AGs) of all 50 states and the District of Columbia announced a settlement totaling $575 million with a national bank as the result of a coordinated investigation by the States. The national bank previously entered into consent orders and settlements totaling $1 billion…
On December 27, 2018, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had entered into a consent order with an auto lender, resolving allegations that the lender violated the Massachusetts Cost of Consumer Credit Disclosure Act. The AG alleged that an investigation uncovered that the lender required consumers to…
On December 4, 2018, one of the nation’s largest debt buyers and its subsidiaries reached a settlement with 42 states and the District of Columbia (see, e.g., announcements here and here). The settlement closes the states’ multi-year investigation into the company’s collection and litigation practices, including alleged violations of the…
On November 15, 2018, the Virginia Attorney General’s office (“Virginia AG”) announced that it had secured more than $50 million in debt relief and civil penalties as a result of its lawsuit brought under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act against two affiliated loan companies and their owner (the “Defendants”) in…
During the first half of 2018, Enforcement Watch tracked 40 publicly announced or publicly filed enforcement actions involving consumer financial services companies. The 18 enforcement actions tracked during Q1 2018 represent a substantial decrease from the 46 actions tracked in Q1 2017. That trend continued in Q2 2018, with Enforcement Watch…
On October 24, 2018, the Illinois Attorney General (Illinois AG) announced that it had entered into a settlement agreement with a mortgage company resolving an investigation by the Illinois AG’s Office and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) into allegations of mortgage fraud at one of the company’s branches. According to…
On September 21, 2018, the Attorney General for the State of Washington announced a lawsuit against three debt collection agencies and their owner, alleging that they violated the state’s Collection Agency Act, RCW 19.16.100 et seq., and the state’s Consumer Protection Act, RCW 19.86.010 et seq. The complaint, filed in…
On September 21, New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood announced a stipulated court order against three entities and individuals for illegal debt collection practices (collectively, “defendants”), which permanently bans the defendants from the debt collection industry and requires collective payment of almost $27 million in restitution and damages. The court…
On September 20, New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood announced a lawsuit against nine student loan debt relief companies, their financing company, and two individuals with leadership roles in several of the companies (collectively, “defendants”). The lawsuit alleges that defendants violated the Federal Credit Repair Organization Act, 15 U.S.C. §…
On July 26, 2018, the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania announced a lawsuit against five Pennsylvania mortgage foreclosure companies and two company owners for cheating consumers into signing contracts to have their mortgage loans modified—but never delivering the services paid for—in violation of Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer…
On June 14, 2018, the California Attorney General announced that it had entered into a settlement with a company holding nearly 35,000 private student loans across California. In the complaint, which was filed on June 13, 2018, the Attorney General alleged that the company had engaged in unlawful debt collection…
On March 7, 2018, the Virginia Attorney General’s Office (“Virginia AG”) filed a complaint against two related loan companies and their owner (the “Defendants”) in Virginia state court. According to the complaint, the Defendants engage in the practice of purchasing portions of Virginia citizens’ pension payments in exchange for a…
On May 4, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring (“VA Attorney General”) announced that its Predatory Lending Unit had filed suit in Virginia state court against a Chicago-based online lender, alleging violations of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, Virginia Code §§ 59.1-196 to 59.1-207 (“VCPA”). The complaint alleges that the lender, one of the largest online…