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…
The results of the recent election have led to speculation regarding what legal changes are in store for the consumer financial services industry and the CFPB in particular. Although President-elect Trump and other Republicans have made statements regarding “dismantling” the Dodd-Frank Act, few concrete proposals have been put forward. In…
On November 14, 2016, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced that four California individual defendants were sentenced for their participation in an allegedly fraudulent debt relief scheme. The defendants all worked for two companies in Orange County, California that offered to settle credit card debts. According to the DOJ,…
On November 10, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Georgia against a prepaid credit card provider. The FTC’s complaint alleges violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or…
On November 10, 2016, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the owner of a debt collection company was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $3.9 million in restitution to consumers. After a five day trial, the jury found that…
On November 9, 2016, the New Mexico Attorney General (AG) announced that a New Mexico judge issued a final judgment against a payday lender and ordered the lender to pay $32 million in restitution. The court found the lender had “fashioned their loans and business practices so as to circumvent…
On November 9, 2016, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced it entered into a consent order with a New Jersey-based mortgage company and its subsidiary. The order stems from multiple investigations concerning loans originated between 2008 and early 2014. The NYDFS alleges that the company had inadequate…
On October 31, 2016, the Supreme Court of Georgia issued a lengthy opinion ruling against payday lenders in two cases consolidated on appeal. The two cases (Western Sky Financial, LLC v. State of Georgia, No. S16A1011 and State of Georgia v. Western Sky Financial, LLC, No. S16X1012) involved state regulation…
On November 4, 2016, the Ohio Attorney General’s office (AG) announced it filed a complaint against a California-based mortgage-relief services provider and its director (Defendants) alleging violations of Ohio’s consumer protection laws. The complaint alleges that the provider sent advertisements to Ohio residents stating that the company has helped consumers to “receive payment…
On November 3, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed suit against a Virginia pawnbroker, alleging that the pawnbroker violated the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) by failing to disclose an annual percentage rate (APR) on its closed-end pawn contracts. According…
At the end of October, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) released its Recommendations and Decisions for Implementing a Responsible Innovation Framework (the “Recommendations”). The Recommendations are the latest step in a long process the OCC has undertaken to try to revamp its approach to new financial…
On November 3, the Minnesota Attorney General (AG) announced that it had settled a 2013 lawsuit it had filed against a California-based online personal loan lender. The AG alleged that the lender used a front company that falsely claimed to be affiliated with a Native American tribe and originated loans whose…
On November 2, the New York Attorney General (AG) announced a $1.6 million settlement with a debt settlement company and its principal, resolving allegations that the company violated New York’s deceptive and unlawful practices law by engaging in fraudulent, deceptive, and illegal business practices in connection with loan modification and…
On November 2, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and New York Attorney General (AG) announced the filing of a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York against participants in a purported New York-based nationwide debt collection scheme. According to the complaint, the…
On November 3, 2016, the Georgia Attorney General’s Office (Georgia AG) announced that affiliated online payday lenders will suspend collections on approximately $6.5 million in loans following a Georgia Supreme Court ruling that state law applied to the online payday lenders. As a result of that ruling, the Georgia AG’s case currently…
On October 13, 2016, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida denied class certification in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) suit. In Newhart v. Quicken Loans Inc., Case No. 9:15-cv-81250, the plaintiff alleged that he received a number of calls on his cell phone from…
On October 31, the United States District Court for the Western District of New York granted the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) motion for summary judgment against a group of debt collectors, finding that the debt collectors violated the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)….
On November 1, 2016, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (U.S. Attorney) announced that the owner, president, and chief executive officer of a debt collection company pleaded guilty to orchestrating a scheme to coerce thousands of consumers across the country into making debt payments through false threats and…
For the second quarter of 2016, Consumer Enforcement Watch tracked 46 enforcement actions taken against consumer finance providers. This represents a slight decrease from the 50 enforcement actions that were tracked last quarter, and a decrease from the 56 actions that we tracked in the second quarter of 2015. Approximately two-thirds of…
On October 14, 2016, the Indiana Attorney General’s Office (Indiana AG) announced that it had reached a settlement with an online payday lender. The Indiana AG alleged that the lender employed a “rent-a-tribe” scheme in which it allegedly associated itself with a Native American tribe in order to bypass the Indian Deceptive…