On December 6, 2016, the Federal Reserve Board announced that it entered into a consent order with a Pennsylvania bank ordering it to cease and desist deceptive student lending practices, and assessing millions of dollars in civil penalties. According to the order, the state-chartered bank and its agent violated section 5 of the Federal…
On November 21, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a national bank, resolving allegations over the bank’s allegedly harmful student loan servicing practices and requiring it to pay millions in consumer relief and civil penalties. According to the CFPB, the bank engaged…
On October 5, 2017, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had filed suit against a federal student loan provider and servicer (and its subsidiary) in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, alleging violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) and Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer…
As Enforcement Watch reported in late September, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it had filed a proposed consent judgment in the United States District Court for Delaware to resolve claims relating to the servicing and debt collection activities on a portfolio of about 800,000 student loans. Under the proposed settlement agreement, the student loan trusts…
On September 18, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it had entered into a settlement and proposed consent judgment with a student loan owner and securitizer, and a separate consent judgment with the securitizer’s debt collector. The securitizer has a loan portfolio of approximately 800,000 student loans. According…
On August 23, 2017, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced that her office had sued one of the nation’s largest federal student loan servicers, alleging that the servicer deprived public servants of relief under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF), a federal student loan forgiveness program that forgives loans of borrowers that hold public service positions…
On August 17, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it filed a complaint and proposed settlement against an Oregon private equity firm and related entities for aiding a post-secondary education company and its school’s predatory lending scheme. The CFPB alleges that the private equity firm enabled the school…
On August 4, 2017, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania denied a student loan servicer’s motion to dismiss claims brought against it by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), rejecting the servicer’s argument that the claims fail because the CFPB is unconstitutional. In January 2017, the…
On June 16, 2017, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (“New Jersey AG”) and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs announced a settlement with a for-profit student loan consolidation service that allegedly operated in the State of New Jersey without a debt-adjuster license. The New Jersey AG brought the action…
On May 25, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it filed a complaint in federal court in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against a student loan debt relief and credit repair company, its affiliated companies, and owner. The complaint alleged that the defendants operated an…
On May 23, 2017, the Florida Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had filed a complaint against a Florida student loan debt relief company that falsely promised consumers it could substantially reduce their student loan debt, or even have their student loan debt forgiven. According to the complaint, the company convinced consumers to pay…
On April 26, 2017, the CFPB issued a press release and its latest Supervisory Highlights, which spotlight the CFPB’s recent enforcement efforts in the areas of mortgage loan origination, mortgage loan servicing, and student loan servicing. The Supervisory Highlights reflect what the CFPB sees as common problems in each area,…
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 February 14, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had entered into a stipulated order with a student loan debt collector, resolving allegations that the debt collector violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) in its servicing of over two million accounts in…
On January 31, 2017, Mitzie Perez—a former undocumented immigrant who is authorized to work in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) policy—filed a class action in the Northern District of California, Perez et al. v. Wells Fargo & Co. et al., No. 17-454 (N.D. Cal….
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 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against a servicer of private and federal student loans, alleging that the servicer used deceptive practices related to borrower repayment. The student loan servicer is…
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 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…
On November 18, 2016, the Attorney General for the State of Vermont (Vermont AG) announced that it had entered into a settlement with a California student loan debt consolidation company related to the company’s business of helping consumers consolidate their loans to reduce their student loan debt. As part of the settlement, the…