On November 21, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced that an individual defendant was sentenced for his participation in an allegedly fraudulent debt relief scheme. The defendant worked for two companies in Orange County, California that offered to settle credit card debts. According to…
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…
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 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 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 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 11, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a national credit union over allegations that the credit union made false and misleading representations to consumers when attempting to collect on past due accounts. The credit union serves military members and their families. The…
On September 28, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office announced that it had entered into a settlement with a national mortgage servicer to resolve allegations that the servicer had engaged in abusive debt collection practices affecting over 5,000 Massachusetts consumers. The assurance of discontinuance, filed in Suffolk County Superior Court, alleged…
On September 21, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas entered a stipulated order for a permanent injunction and civil penalty judgment against the vice president of a debt collector. Following an investigation of the debt collector by the Federal Trade Commission,…
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 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…
*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…
On July 28, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released an outline of proposals it is considering as potential elements of a new, comprehensive regulatory scheme to implement the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 (FDCPA). The proposed regulations, if implemented, would represent a major change…
On July 26, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it filed a lawsuit against a regional credit union over alleged violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The SCRA prohibits lenders from repossessing servicemembers’ vehicles without a court order while servicemembers are on activity military duty. The DOJ alleged in…
On July 14, 2016, the FTC announced that, as part of an ongoing crackdown on deceptive collection practices, it reached a settlement with two debt collectors and three companies charged with using illegal collection tactics. As Enforcement Watch previously covered here, the FTC initially brought the action against the companies in October of 2015 for allegedly taking payments…
On June 21, the Attorney General for the District of Columbia announced a settlement with a debt collector for alleged violations of the District’s debt collection and consumer protection laws. Specifically, the District alleged that the debt collector unlawfully sought collection of “court costs and legal fees without a supporting…
On June 21, 2016, the North Carolina Attorney General announced that two online fast cash lenders have agreed to pay more than $9 million in refunds for allegedly illegal loans issued to North Carolina consumers. The settlement stems from a December 2013 complaint alleging that the lenders violated North Carolina usury…
On May 18, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced its Spring 2016 Rulemaking Agenda, setting forth its current initiatives. In its latest installment of the semi-annual update, the Bureau highlighted its recent (or imminent) activity in several high-profile areas, including arbitration and payday lending. Below are highlights of…