On December 20, 2023, the CFPB announced that, along with the DOJ, it had filed suit against a Texas-based developer and lender for operating an allegedly illegal land sales scheme that targeted Hispanic borrowers. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, alleges that the lender sells…
On December 19, 2023, the CFPB announced it had entered into a consent order with a national bank regarding its handling of consumers’ unemployment benefits accounts. The bank had contracted with at least 19 states to deliver unemployment benefits to consumers. The CFPB accused the bank of violating the Consumer Financial Protection…
On December 15, 2023, the CFPB announced that it entered into a consent order with a medical debt collector resolving allegations that the debt collector tried to collect unverified medical debts after consumers disputed the validity of those debts. The CFPB alleges that the company failed to conduct reasonable investigations of disputed debts and failed to inform consumer reporting companies…
Last month, the Justice Department (DOJ) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a joint statement that reminded financial institutions that all credit applicants are protected from discrimination on the basis of their national origin, race and other characteristics covered by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), regardless of…
On November 20, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with the auto-financing arm of a major automaker in the amount of $60 million, resolving allegations that the corporation violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Under the order, the corporation will pay $48 million in damages to…
On November 8, 2023, the Minnesota Attorney General (Minnesota AG) announced that the state had reached a settlement with a California-based student-loan debt-relief provider over miscellaneous state law allegations. Specifically, the Minnesota AG alleged that the company did not register as a debt settlement services provider with the Minnesota Department of Commerce as required by Minn. Stat. § 332B.03. The…
In October 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a new rule intended to encourage “open banking”. “Open banking” is a practice of sharing, with consent, consumers’ banking and financial data (account balances, transaction history, payment due dates, routing numbers, and the like) with third-party vendors who in turn…
On November 8, 2023, the CFPB and a national bank entered into a consent order to resolve allegations that the bank engaged in intentional discrimination against Armenian Americans who had applied for credit cards with said bank. Specifically, the CFPB alleges that between 2016 and 2021, the bank singled out…
On November 2, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had reached a settlement with a New York based personal finance application over claims that the app violated the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 45(a), 53(b), 57b, and Section 5 of the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act…
As previously reported, on September 8, 2023, the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Texas granted plaintiff U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s (the “Chamber”) motion for summary judgment, which invalidated the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB”) Exam Manual changes from March 2022 that stated that discriminatory conduct may…
On October 30, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) granted a permanent injunction containing a lifetime ban for the owner of a small-business lending company for unfair business practices and aggressive debt collection methods. On September 27, 2023, Judge Jed. S. Rakoff of SDNY granted summary…
On October 24, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had filed a complaint against a Wisconsin-based auto dealership alleging “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce” in violation of FTC Act,15 U.S.C. § 45(a), and violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B, which prohibit…
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on October 3, 2023 in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. The issue before the Court is whether the CFPB’s funding mechanism violaties the U.S. Constitution’s Appropriations Clause (U.S. Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 7). Solicitor General,…
On October 12, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that they filed a joint complaint and obtained a $15 million settlement against a parent credit reporting agency and one of its subsidiaries for alleged violations of the Fair Credit Report Act (FCRA) with respect to tenant…
On October 10, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed a complaint against a residential mortgage loan originator and servicer alleging that the company violated the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), its implementing Regulation C, the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), and a recent 2019 consent order. The company allegedly reported HMDA…
On October 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that that they had filed a complaint and entered into a stipulated order with a for-profit college and its parent company. Under the consent order, the college will cancel $3.4 million in student debt, resolving allegations that it made false claims about post-graduation job placements and…
On October 17, 2023, the Washington State Attorney General (AG) announced that over the course of 2023, they had recovered approximately $360,000 in restitution from three out-of-state debt adjusters for alleged predatory student debt adjustments in violation of the Debt Adjustment Act. The Debt Adjustment Act limits the amount of fees a debt adjuster…
On October 17, 2023, the California Attorney General announced that 48 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico had reached a $10 million settlement with a payment processing company related to allegations of attempted unauthorized withdrawals related to a testing error on the part of the processing company. According to the press release,…
On October 12, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a consent order and a stipulation against a parent credit reporting agency and two of its subsidiaries for for alleged violations of the Fair Credit Report Act (FCRA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). The CFPB alleged that as early as…
On October 11, 2023, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced a settlement with a California student loan debt relief company for $17,000. This settlement marks the 14th time AG Ellison has pursued action against student loan debt relief companies since 2016. The settlement resolves allegations that the company illegally collected fees from customers and…