This time last year, LLW reported on the Department of Justice going after subprime auto lenders, and more recently we have reported on the CFPB’s targeting of subprime auto lenders. But Massachusetts has also gotten in on the regulatory action. On March 16, 2016, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (MAG) announced that American Credit…
On March 15, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order and settlement with a national student debt relief company over allegations that the company charged illegal and excessive fees. According to the Complaint, the company operated online student debt management websites that offered services related to…
On March 16, 2016, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office announced that two financial services companies specializing in auto loans agreed to pay a total of $7.4 million in restitution to Massachusetts consumers over allegations the companies charged excessive interest rates on auto loans. According to the Massachusetts AG, the companies purchased loans from primary creditors…
On March 18, 2016, the Massachusetts Attorney General announced that it obtained a preliminary injunction against an online auto lender over claims the company originated loans with illegal interest rates and fees in violation of Massachusetts usury laws. According to the Attorney General, the company offered online title loans to…
On March 18, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that a federal district court entered final judgment against a debt relief company over allegations the company charged illegal upfront fees and engaged in other deceptive business tactics. The CFPB filed suit against the company in 2013, alleging violations of the…
On March 17, 2016, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced that it entered into a consent order and settlement with a financial services company over allegations the company offered illegal online payday loans in New York. The company allegedly operated an online payday loan “lead generation” business. Although payday lending is…
On March 15, 2016, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced final changes to its loan-level certification form, 92900-A HUD/VA Addendum to the Uniform Residential Loan Application. The announcement represents important and highly-anticipated changes to the FHA’s required certification. The FHA’s loan-level certification form, which the lender completes for every loan…
On March 16, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), and Acting Inspector General for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) announced that the government settled a False Claims Act lawsuit against a New York-based…
On February 17, 2016, the Third Circuit handed a creditor and its law firm a win in a Fair Debt Collection Practices case filed in bankruptcy court finding that a couple who sued over the Rule 2004 Examination Subpoena in their bankruptcy case could not have been misled by that…
On March 7, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it will begin collecting complaints from consumers about online marketplace lenders, signaling its intention to increasingly regulate the evolving and growing Financial Technology (Fintech) industry. The CFPB announcement emphasized that marketplace lending is “a relatively new kind of…
On March 9, 2016, the Vermont Attorney General announced a $22,000 settlement with a payment processor over its alleged violation of Vermont consumer protection laws. The Attorney General asserted that between 2012-2013, the company processed debits from over 500 consumer bank accounts on behalf of at least 36 online lenders whose interest rates often exceeded 100-300%….
On February 23, 2016, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray delivered prepared remarks (click link for full text) regarding CFPB regulation of credit unions to the Credit Union National Association. The crux of Director Cordray’s remarks was that the CFPB has affirmatively decided not to exclude credit unions from CFPB…
On February 19, the Federal Reserve noticed an information collection regarding recent changes to Regulation Z. The Notice (81 Fed. Reg. 8492) explains that the Federal Reserve is planning to update Regulation Z to include a number of regulatory requirements implemented in the past three years—particularly those promulgated by the…
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it reached an agreement with a regional bank over a disparate treatment fair housing claim. HUD alleged that the bank engaged in racially discriminatory redlining by lending less in the majority-minority neighborhood of the East Side of Kansas City, Missouri….
On February 12, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding its efforts to implement the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The full report can be reviewed here. According to the report, in 2015, the Commission: coordinated the first federal-state-local enforcement initiative targeting deceptive…
As an ongoing update to our coverage of the Spokeo case, today we look at what could happen in the case where, with Justice Scalia’s recent death coming after oral argument but before an opinion was issued, the court’s new composition has created some ambiguity regarding the outcome. Given that there is an eight person…
Do borrowers have standing to challenge a non-judicial foreclosure on the ground of alleged defects in an assignment from the original lender to a successor? This is a question that has divided courts, both in California and across the country. See, e.g., Glaski v. Bank of Am., 218 Cal. App….
On February 18, 2016, the CFPB released its final policy regarding the issuance of No-Action Letters (NALs). While some in the industry question the efficacy of the new policy, lenders and other consumer financial service providers should be aware of the policy so they can utilize it if and when…
On February 18, the Massachusetts Attorney General (“AG”) announced a $4 million settlement with a national mortgage lender and servicer, resolving allegations that the lender received kickbacks for force-placed insurance policies. The AG alleged that, prior to June 1, 2012, the lender received compensation and other kickbacks tied to (already high) force-placed insurance…
On February 11, 2016, 49 state attorney generals and the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, collectively the “State AGs,” announced a $13 million nationwide settlement with a Dallas-based money services company. The settlement agreement was the result of a multi-state investigation headed by the Consumer Protection Divisions of the respective State AGs….