On March 27, 2017, the North Carolina Attorney General (“AG”) announced that it had settled a lawsuit filed in the Wake County, North Carolina Superior Court against a student loan company. As a result of the settlement, the parties filed a consent judgment requiring that the company pay $377,048 in restitution…
On March 22, 2017, the New York Attorney General’s Office (“New York AG”) announced that it had entered into a $540,000 settlement with a Virginia retailer and financing company that allegedly used deceptive practices to lure military servicemembers into financing agreements for the purchase of consumer goods. The New York AG alleged that the companies sold…
On March 16, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced a settlement between his Consumer Protection Division and five California law firms that allegedly collected illegal advance fees from consumers for debt settlement services and used the payments to pay themselves thousands of dollars. Maryland’s Debt Settlement Services Act prohibits…
On March 9, 2017, the North Carolina Attorney General (“AG”) announced that it had settled a lawsuit filed in the Wake County, North Carolina Superior Court against three debt relief companies and two individuals. As a result of the settlement, the court entered an order banning the companies and individuals from advertising or providing debt relief…
On March 10, 2017, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office (“Illinois AG”) announced that it had brought criminal contempt charges against the former proprietor of a debt collection business (the “defendant”). The defendant is accused of operating a new debt collection business, which is an alleged violation of a consent decree concerning…
On February 14, 2017, the Florida Attorney General’s Office (Florida AG) announced that it had entered into three consent judgments and one settlement with four affiliated loan service companies and their operators, resolving complaints filed against the companies by the Florida AG in state court in 2015. According to the Florida AG, the…
On February 9, the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Georgia (Georgia AG) announced that it reached a settlement and entered into a consent order with a California-based online lender relating to an alleged “rent-a-tribe” scheme. The consent order, filed in Georgia state court, bars the lender from doing…
On February 7, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the New York Attorney General (NY AG) jointly announced they filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against a settlement advance company and its founder. The Complaint alleges that the company violated section 1054 of…
On February 2, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia (Virginia AG) announced the filing of a complaint and a stipulated consent order in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against a Virginia-based pawn broker for allegedly deceiving consumers…
On January 31, 2017, the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia (VA AG) announced that it entered into a settlement with a small dollar loan lender. The lender allegedly engaged into a “rent-a-tribe” scheme through a South Dakota company that held itself out as a Native American business entity. The company purportedly used this “facade” to deceive consumers…
On January 24, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Florida Attorney General’s Office announced a settlement with student loan debt relief providers alleged to have participated in a student loan debt relief scheme, resolving allegations that the providers violated the Federal Trade Commission Act, Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act,…
On January 18, 2017, the Attorney General (AG) of Washington announced that it filed a lawsuit against the nation’s largest student loan servicer and related entities alleging deceptive lending, servicing, and debt collection practices. According the AG’s Complaint, filed in King County, Washington Superior Court, the servicer engaged in a…
On January 4, 2017, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office (“Iowa AG”) announced that it had entered into an agreement with a company accused of charging high rates of interest on cash advances from pension accounts. According to the Iowa AG, the company charged up to 200 percent interest for cash…
On December 21, 2016, the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office (“Arkansas AG”) announced that it had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas against a Florida-based credit repair company, stemming from allegations that the company made false and misleading representations to consumers. The Arkansas…
On December 17, 2016, the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office (“Arkansas AG”) announced that it had filed a lawsuit against affiliated auto dealerships for violations of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The Arkansas AG alleged that these auto dealerships would submit loan applications to third-party lenders, who would then deposit…
On November 30, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Florida Attorney General (AG) announced several settlements totaling approximately $27 million in an alleged fraudulent credit card debt reduction scheme. In a set of stipulated orders, all but one defendant agreed to monetary judgments, as well as bans on future telemarketing, selling debt relief services, and credit…
On November 30, 2016, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office announced that it had secured a judgment in Colorado state court against affiliated lenders who operated an illegal auto title loan scheme. The companies allegedly used fictitious names in extending credit services, and allegedly charged consumers usurious interest rates for personal…
In the third quarter of 2016, Consumer Enforcement Watch tracked 37 enforcement actions taken against consumer financial service providers. This represents a decrease from the 46 enforcement actions that were tracked last quarter and the 50 actions that we tracked in Q1. 25 of the Q3 enforcement actions were settlements…
On November 22, 2016, the Massachusetts Division of Banks (“DOB) announced that it has returned approximately $2.3 Million to 1,673 Massachusetts residents, as part of a settlement with an online payday lender. The payday lender allegedly issued payday loans with interest rates between 89 and 135 percent, and annual percentage rates (APR) between…
On November 22, 2016, the Massachusetts Attorney General announced that it entered into a settlement agreement with a national student loan servicing company over allegations the company violated various state and federal consumer protection laws. The investigation into the company’s student loan servicing practices began in December 2015. According to…