On September 8, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that, pursuant to a Consent Order, a national bank agreed to make full restitution to consumers and pay the CFPB a $100 million fine because many of its employees allegedly engaged in an illegal practice of opening unauthorized deposit and credit…
On August 31, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) obtained summary judgment against a California-based online payday lender, its individual owner, its subsidiary, and a servicer of its loans, which allegedly used a “rent-a-tribe” scheme to avoid state usury and licensing laws in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act. According to the…
On September 7, 2016, the Massachusetts Attorney General (“AG”) announced that it reached a settlement with a Massachusetts force-placed insurance company relating to allegations that it improperly charged homeowners for insurance. According to the Massachusetts AG, mortgage lenders improperly provided homeowners with duplicative force-placed insurance policies through the subject insurance…
On September 1, 2016, the Massachusetts Attorney General (“AG”) announced a settlement with a student loan debt relief company, over allegations the company charged illegal fees to enroll borrowers in income-based repayment plans and other loan modification services. The company allegedly offered “debt relief” services to borrowers, which included assisting borrowers…
On September 1, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it entered into a stipulated order for permanent injunction against a group of regional law firms over allegations the firms violated the Federal Trade Commission Act by providing illegal mortgage modification services. According to the FTC, the firms charged illegal…
On August 31, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its Monthly Complaint Report for August 2016, this month focusing on complaints concerning bank accounts and related services. The report, which compiles data from the CFPB’s complaint database to compare consumer complaints by subject, geography, and company on a…
On August 23, 2016, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the filing of a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against several California-based mortgage loan modification service providers. The complaint alleges that defendants violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)…
On August 24, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the FTC and the Attorney General for the State of New York (New York AG) reached a settlement with a New York debt collector that will ban the owner and his companies from the debt collection business. The action was part…
On August 25, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced an order against a national bank that will require the bank to pay $32.25 million in consumer relief and civil penalties based on practices relating to credit card add-on products. These practices allegedly violated sections 1031 and 1036(a)(1)(B) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act…
On August 25, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that it had agreed to consent orders with a national bank based on its alleged unfair billing practices. The civil money penalty order will require that the bank pay a $3 million civil money penalty. The cease and desist…
On August 23, the Attorney General for the State of Minnesota (Minnesota AG) announced the filing of a lawsuit against a debt collection company operating call centers in Jamaica based on its alleged unlicensed calls attempting to collect on fake payday loans, or “phantom” debts. According to the Minnesota AG, state residents reported…
On August 22, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a large national bank in relation to the company’s private student loan servicing practices. The CFPB asserts that the bank’s practices allegedly increased costs and penalized certain borrowers, leading to illegal fees and inaccurate credit…
On August 19, the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Minnesota (Minnesota AG) announced that it had settled a lawsuit against a California-based online lender relating to an alleged “rent-a-tribe” scheme. The settlement bars the lender from doing business in Minnesota unless and until it complies with the state’s usury, lending,…
On August 19, 2016, the Kansas Attorney General announced a settlement with a Michigan-based auto credit company for “improperly disclaiming warranties in contracts with Kansas consumers in violation of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.” According to the company, the warranties were disclaimed inadvertently. Under the terms of the settlement, each…
On August 8, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that an auto financing company agreed to pay $434,500 to settle alleged violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The DOJ alleged in its complaint that the company illegally repossessed 75 automobiles from service members during their service between 2008…
On August 5, an Alabama bank announced in its quarterly report that it reached an agreement in principal on a settlement amount with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on behalf of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The settlement will resolve an investigation into the bank’s residential mortgage…
On August 1, 2016, Colorado Attorney General Cynthia H. Coffman announced a settlement of two lawsuits against lenders for targeting the military and other allegedly illegal lending practices. According to the Attorney General, the settlement comes after charges filed against the lenders in 2015, alleging that the lenders used illegal…
On July 29, 2016, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a settlement with a bank concerning allegations that they denied loan approval to a woman on maternity leave in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). The woman had applied for a home equity line of credit, but the bank allegedly told…
On August 3, 2016, Goodwin filed an amicus brief in the Washington Supreme Court on behalf of the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Consumer Mortgage Coalition. The case—Jordan v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC—involved a challenge to a servicer’s default-servicing practice of rekeying the lock on the front door of seemingly abandoned…
*Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared on our firm site as a client alert. Summary On July 28, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the CFPB) released a summary of proposals it is considering to reform debt collection practices. At the same time, it released a Study of Third Party Debt…