On August 31, 2020, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), an arm of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within the Executive Branch, issued a memorandum (M-20-31 memorandum) directing the heads of federal executive departments and agencies to revise their procedures and practices in light of “the…
On October 7, 2020, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (Massachusetts AG) announced a judgment obtained against a student loan debt relief company in Suffolk Superior Court for allegedly unlawful and predatory business practices. According to the AG, the company charged unlawful upfront and continuing fees to consumers, misrepresented the scope…
On September 17, 2020, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Eleventh Circuit) issued an important decision regarding incentive payments in class-action settlements in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) cases. In Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC, Case No. 9:17-cv-80393 (11th Cir. 2020) (Johnson), a TCPA case, the Eleventh Circuit held that…
On September 29, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had filed a pair of lawsuits in federal district court against two debt collection companies, related entities, and owners for allegedly violating the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). The FTC…
On September 29, 2020 the Arizona Attorney General (AG) announced that it had filed a lawsuit in Arizona state court against two individual owners of debt collection businesses alleging that, on phone calls to consumers nationwide, they made false statements and threats to convince consumers to pay debts the defendants…
On September 29, 2020, the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia (Virginia AG) announced a settlement with a Nashville-based open-end credit plan internet lender, resolving allegations that the lender violated Virginia laws in offering short-term loans. This settlement results from the Virginia AG’s allegations that the lender’s contracts with its consumers violated the Virginia Consumer Protection Act…
On September 25, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against a national mortgage loan originator. The complaint alleges that the company violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by originating Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) loans…
On September 15, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it had filed a proposed stipulated judgment against a Delaware statutory trust after a settlement agreement was reached between the trust and forty-seven states plus the District of Columbia. The trust was created to purchase and hold beneficial…
On September 14, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a settlement in its eighth case arising out of the CFPB’s “sweep of investigations” of mortgage companies allegedly mailing deceptive advertisements for VA-guaranteed mortgages to servicemembers and veterans. According to the CFPB, the “ongoing sweep of investigations reflects the…
On September 21, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) entered into a consent order with an auto loan servicer to resolve allegations that the company charged customers for loss damage waiver coverage without actually providing it. According to the CFPB, this practice was unfair under the Consumer Financial Protection Act,…
On September 16, 2020, the New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) announced it filed a statement of charges against a debt collector over the debt collector’s alleged failure to comply with New York State’s Debt Collection Regulation, Part 1 of Title 23 of the New York Codes, Rules, and…
On September 3, 2020, the California Department of Business Oversight (“DBO”) announced it had initiated an investigation into an auto title lender for possible violations of California’s state usury limits, through its relationship with an out-of-state bank. In 2020, the Company allegedly stopped making state-licensed auto loans in California and instead partnered…
On September 2, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it had entered into a consent order with a Delaware-based VA-mortgage lender, resolving allegations that the company had engaged in deceptive practices against servicemembers and veterans. The CFPB found that since April 2018 the Company had mailed current and former servicemembers misleading advertisements…
On September 1, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it had issued a consent order against a Maryland-based corporation offering VA-guaranteed loans in twelve states. According to the consent order, the CFPB found the company had sent consumers millions of advertisements containing deceptive or misleading statements and inadequate disclosures, in violation of…
On September 1, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it had issued a consent order against a Miami-based lender based on its deceptive advertisements to servicemembers and military veterans through direct-mail campaigns in eight states. According to the consent order, the CFPB found that the company had included false, misleading, and inaccurate…
On August 31, 2020, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy (“Massachusetts AG”) announced that she had filed suit in Massachusetts state court against a national auto lender for allegedly making unfair and deceptive loans to thousands of Massachusetts consumers since 2013 and engaging in unfair debt collection practices. According to the Massachusetts AG, the company…
On September 14, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a mortgage broker and lender that advertises and offers mortgage loans guaranteed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) through direct-mail advertisements sent primarily to United States military…
On September 14, 2020, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that she secured protections for thousands of student borrowers who defaulted on student loans and who were allegedly subject to misleading and unlawful actions by one of the nation’s largest debt collectors. The settlement agreement resolves an investigation of…
On September 8, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the New York State Attorney General announced they filed a complaint against five New York debt-collection companies, along with the individual owners and managers of the firms. The complaint, filed in the Western District of New York, alleges the…
On September 8, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it filed a complaint against a group of California-based debt collection companies and their subsidiaries. The complaint, filed in the Southern District of California, alleges the defendants violated the terms of a 2015 consent order (the Order) with the…