On December 16, 2020, the Pennsylvania Attorney General (Pennsylvania AG) announced a settlement with a California-based student loan forgiveness company for alleged violations of state consumer protection laws. According to the Pennslyvania AG, the company used false advertising tactics and posted fraudulent customer reviews on the Better Business Bureau website. Further, the company…
On December 11, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) and the Arkansas Attorney General (AG) announced that they filed a complaint and proposed stipulated judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas against a home-security company. The complaint alleges that the company—which provided credit to customers for its products and services—violated the Consumer…
On December 9, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had filed a complaint against a Missouri-based debt collection company in federal court in the Western District of Missouri. The CFPB alleges the company violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692e and 1692g and the Consumer Financial…
On November 20, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a proposed rule with the objective of ensuring banks offer fair access to financial services. Certain banks have received significant political pressure from various for-profit and not-for-profit organizations to deny financial services to customers in certain…
On December 8, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a New Jersey debt collection company, resolving allegations that the debt collection company violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). The debt collection company was engaged…
On December 4, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed suit against an online lender that offers single-payment and installment loans to consumers for alleged violations of the Military Lending Act (MLA). The MLA contains protections associated with extensions of consumer credit for active-duty servicemembers, including a maximum allowable annual…
On November 30, 2020 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had reached a settlement with a debt collection company for its “debt parking scheme” (also known as “passive debt collection”) in which the company allegedly placed bogus or questionable debts on consumers’ credit reports in an attempt to coerce them to pay the…
On November 30, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) granted a no-action letter to an online loan marketplace company for its artificial intelligence (AI) loan origination and underwriting platform. The company offers an AI-based underwriting model for banks, credit unions, and non-bank lenders to use in originating loans. Consumers provide information to start a loan…
On December 1, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed suit against a Massachusetts debt settlement and relief company over alleged violations of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) in connection with the company’s debt-settlement and debt relief services. The complaint filed in the U.S. District…
On November 5, 2020, the Federal Register published five federal financial regulatory agencies’ invitation for comment on a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) that would codify the agencies’ Interagency Statement Clarifying the Role of Supervisory Guidance, as amended, which was issued on September 11, 2018 (2018 Statement). The 2018 Statement…
On November 20, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a Florida-based company that offers auto loans over the company’s alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). The consent order, entered against both the company and personally against the company’s…
On November 20, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had filed a complaint against an Illinois-based debt settlement company and the company’s owners for alleged violations of Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), 16 C.F.R. § 310.4, and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), 12 U.S.C. § 5536….
On November 19, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had reached a settlement with three California-based student loan debt relief companies and their founder after they allegedly misled consumers by falsely promising that their monthly payments would go toward lowering their student loan debt. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District…
On November 18, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had filed a complaint against a California-based mobile banking app and its founder and CEO for allegedly falsely misrepresenting to users that they would receive high interests rates on their banking accounts and that they would have constant access to their funds. According to the complaint,…
On November 16, 2020, the Maryland Attorney General (Maryland AG) announced a settlement with a Texas-based debt buyer regarding a portfolio of student loan debt the buyer purchased from a court-appointed receiver following the closure of a for-profit college. The $2,622,877 settlement immediately discharges any outstanding loans and refunds 75%…
On November 12, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with an Illinois-based debt collector that collects debts on behalf of telecommunications companies and furnishes consumer-account information to credit reporting agencies. The CFPB alleged that the debt collector violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the…
On October 30, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a new final rule implementing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). According the CFPB’s press release, the new final rule is designed “to restate and clarify prohibitions on harassment and abuse, false or misleading representations, and unfair practices…
On November 5, 2020, the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had filed a complaint against a California student loan debt settlement company and the company’s CEO in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint alleges that the company violated the Telemarketing Sales…
On November 5, 2020, the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had filed a complaint against a Florida-based payday lender and its CEO in the Southern District of Florida. The complaint alleges that the company violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) by engaging in deceptive acts and practices in connection with the…
As Lender Law Watch previously reported, in July 2020, to resolve the legal uncertainty discouraging many banks and companies from entering into partnerships to offer loans to consumers, the OCC issued its proposed true lender rule to address the question of which entity makes a loan when the “loan is…