On June 29, 2021, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced it entered consent orders with two New York-based banks for allegedly violating New York’s fair lending laws in the course of providing auto loans. The banks will pay $275,000 and $350,000 in penalties to the state to resolve the allegations. DFS alleged that the…
On June 29, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it filed a proposed stipulated order with a Maryland-based debt relief and credit repair company concerning alleged violations of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). If accepted by the court, the order would ban the company and its…
On June 3, 2021, the Second Circuit ruled that the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) lacked legal standing to challenge the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC’s) fintech charter program. The Second Circuit concluded that DFS lacked Article III standing because it failed to allege…
On June 8, 2020 the Washington Attorney General’s office (Washington AG) announced that a consent order had been reached with a Colorado-based debt collection agency that would require the agency to pay $475,000 to approximately 5,000 Washington consumers to resolve a lawsuit originally filed in April 2020 in Washington state…
On June 1, 2021, the Ninth Circuit, in CFPB v. Seila Law LLC, No. 17-56324, granted Seila Law LLC’s motion to stay the mandate requiring its compliance with a civil investigative demand, while it petitions the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari on the question of whether the…
On May 14, 2021, the Seventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals issued a decision reaffirming the rule from “a slew of cases” that, without injury, a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) claim alleging a bare procedural violation is not actionable. The case—Markakos v. Medicredi, Inc., No. 20-2351—involved an…
On May 28, 2021, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy (Massachusetts AG) announced a settlement with a bank, acting as an agent for lenders, which requires the bank to permanently discharge debts and return payments made by certain former students of a regional for-profit university. The settlement requires the bank to refund over $30,000 in recent loan repayments made by certain Massachusetts borrowers…
On May 27, 2021, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had reached a settlement with a subprime auto lender resolving alleged violations of the state’s unfair and deceptive acts and practices law. The Massachusetts AG alleged that the auto lender, in connection with its purchase of auto retail installment sales contracts from…
On May 11, 2021, in a 52-47 vote, the United States Senate passed a Congressional Review Act resolution to revoke the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) True Lender Rule. The Congressional Review Act, passed in 1996, permits Congress to pass a joint resolution of disapproval that, with…
On May 27, 2021 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had reached a settlement with a Florida-based payday lender and its CEO to resolve a 2020 lawsuit alleging violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), 12 U.S.C. § 5564. In 2020, and as previously covered by Enforcement Watch, the CFPB filed its complaint against…
On May 21, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order and stipulation with a California-based company that services subprime auto loans originated by car dealers. According to the consent order and stipulation, the CFPB found that the company engaged in unfair acts or practices by charging interest on late payments related to loss damage waiver fees,…
On May 17, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement with several student loan debt relief companies and their respective owners. The settlement stems from a complaint filed in 2019, in which the FTC alleged the companies charged illegal upfront fees and led consumers to believe the fees were going towards consumers’ student loans in violation of Sections…
On May 17, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it has entered into a stipulated judgment and order to resolve a civil action that it previously filed against a debt settlement company in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on December 1, 2020, as previously reported here. The CFPB initially filed suit against the debt settlement company…
On May 3, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent notification letters reminding the nation’s largest apartment landlords of federal protections in place to keep tenants in their homes and stop the spread of COVID-19. The Notification Letter points to the Centers for Disease…
On May 10, 2021, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced a settlement with an Oregon-based bank concerning the bank’s alleged violations of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1). Under the settlement, the bank stipulated to the issuance of an order to pay a civil money penalty of $1.8 million. The FDIC…
On April 27, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a reverse mortgage broker and lender, resolving allegations that the company violated the Mortgages Acts and Practices Advertising Rule (MAP Rule), Regulation Z, and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA)…
On April 26, 2021, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced that it had entered into a settlement agreement with an online coding school, resolving allegations that the school engaged in deceptive acts and practices in violation of California’s new Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL). The school offers its…
On April 29, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it had reached a settlement with a Utah-based home security company to resolve allegations that the company misused consumer credit reports when determining whether prospective customers qualified for financing to purchase the company’s products and services. In a complaint filed by the Department of…
On April 14, 2021, the Indiana Attorney General (Indiana AG) announced that his office obtained a default judgment against an Illinois-based debt collection agency and the agency’s owner. The original complaint filed by the Indiana AG alleged the agency violated Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act by improperly threatening borrowers with legal action, such as liens…
This month the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) doubled-down on its earlier warning that the end of 2021 could see widespread foreclosures as COVID-19-related protections expire, by issuing guidance to mortgage servicers, and a notice of proposed rulemaking, regarding actions mortgage servicers can take to deal with the onslaught. On…