Goodwin’s Consumer Finance Insights (CFI) monitors, reports, and analyzes the latest legal news, activity, and developments impacting the consumer finance industry. Consumer financial services companies—whether banks, fintechs, nonbank and alternative lenders, payment providers, or industry vendors or service providers, like digital advertisers and lead generators—face a constantly shifting and maturing regulatory and legal landscape. Growing from the Financial Crisis, today more than any time in history the consumer finance industry must confront a robust and growing body of industry legislation and regulation, all while under the microscope of sophisticated enforcers, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and state regulators and attorneys general. It is critical for in-house and outside corporate counsel, compliance departments, and business executives to stay informed and aware of these developments to navigate institutional, reputational, and legal risks. Goodwin’s CFI is a singular source of the most recent industry news and latest enforcement activity for you to leverage. Here, you will find links to original enforcement documents, enforcement activity statistics, and reports, analysis, and commentary from Goodwin’s leading Consumer Financial Services Litigation and Enforcement practitioners.

CFPB Issues Consent Order Against Equifax and Transunion for Deceptive Practices

On January 3, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) entered into consent orders with credit reporting agencies Equifax and TransUnion, requiring that they pay a total of over $17.6 million in restitution to consumers and pay an additional total money penalty of $5.5 million.  The consent orders concern the CFPB’s…

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FTC and Florida AG Ban Student Loan Debt Relief Providers

On January 24, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Florida Attorney General’s Office announced a settlement with student loan debt relief providers alleged to have participated in a student loan debt relief scheme, resolving allegations that the providers violated the Federal Trade Commission Act, Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act,…

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Ninth Circuit Compels Tribal Lenders to Comply with CFPB Investigative Demand

On January 20, 2017, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a trial court ruling that ordered three tribal lending entities to comply with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) civil investigative demands. The CFPB’s investigation concerns whether small-dollar online lenders or similar persons had engaged in illegal advertising, marketing, or collection practices in…

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CFPB Secures $8.8 Million Consent Order Against Mortgage Servicer

On January 23, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a mortgage servicer, resolving alleged violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s (CFPA) prohibition on deceptive acts or practices….

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CFPB Settles RESPA Claims with Mortgage Servicer for $20 Million

On January 23, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a mortgage servicer, resolving allegations that the servicer violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). The CFPB alleged that, during 2014, the servicer informed borrowers seeking loss mitigation…

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DOJ Settles Mortgage Discrimination Lawsuit Against National Bank for $54 Million

On January 20, the  U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (USAO) announced that it had settled a recently-filed lawsuit against a national bank, resolving allegations of mortgage discrimination. As previously covered by Enforcement Watch, the government alleged that from 2006 to 2009, the bank charged minority borrowers higher rates…

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CFPB Files Lawsuit Against Largest U.S. Student Loan Servicer Over Deceptive Practices

On January 18, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against a servicer of private and federal student loans, alleging that the servicer used deceptive practices related to borrower repayment. The student loan servicer is…

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Central District of California Finds Prerecorded Call Was Not Telemarketing Under TCPA

Last week, the Central District of California granted summary judgment in a TCPA case involving a single prerecorded call from the plaintiff’s medical insurance company.  In Smith v. Blue Shield of California, the plaintiff alleged that her medical insurance provider violated the TCPA by placing a prerecorded call to her…

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CFPB Files Suit Alleging Bank Deceived Consumers into Buying Overdraft Protection

On January 19, 2017, the CFPB announced it filed a suit against a Minnesota bank, alleging the bank deceived consumers into purchasing overdraft services. The CFPB alleged that the bank, which operates throughout ​Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, and South Dakota, made it seem mandatory to purchase overdraft protection…

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DOJ Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota Bank Over Alleged Minority Redlining Practices

On January 13, 2017, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it had filed a lawsuit against a Minnesota bank, stemming from allegations that the bank engaged in illegal “redlining” of minority neighborhoods in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The DOJ alleged in its complaint that the bank violated the Fair…

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Washington AG Brings Suit Against National Student Loan Servicer for Deceptive Practices

On January 18, 2017, the Attorney General (AG) of Washington announced that it filed a lawsuit against the nation’s largest student loan servicer and related entities alleging deceptive lending, servicing, and debt collection practices. According the AG’s Complaint, ​​filed in King County, Washington Superior Court, ​the servicer engaged in a…

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Federal Court Certifies to the Ninth Circuit the CFPB’s Challenge to Alleged “Rent-a-Tribe” Scheme

On January 3, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California certified for appellate review its August 31, 2016 Order finding that a California-based payday lending company used a “rent-a-tribe” scheme to avoid state usury laws, in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA).  Enforcement Watch covered the August 31,…

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FTC Secures $19.4 Million in Judgments Over Mortgage Relief Scheme

FTC

On January 11, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had agreed to two stipulated orders (available here and here) with individuals who participated in an alleged fraudulent mortgage relief scheme.  According to the FTC, the individuals promised consumers “at least $75,000” or complete relief on their mortgages through a “mass joinder lawsuit.”  The…

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CFPB Orders Medical Debt Collection Law Firms To Pay Over $600,000 For Alleged Misrepresentations

On January 9, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with two affiliated medical debt collection law firms over allegations that the law firms used deceptive collection letters and illegally notarized collection affidavits.  The consent order alleges that the law firms would send debtors collection…

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FINRA Cracks Down on Financial Firms for Cybersecurity Deficiencies

On December 21, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that it was fining 12 firms a total of $14.4 million for failing to comply with FINRA cybersecurity regulations, having identified “significant deficiencies relating to the preservation of broker-dealer and customer records in a format that prevents alteration.” FINRA…

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CFPB Enters Consent Orders with Credit Reporting Agencies Over Allegedly Deceptive Credit Scores

On January 3, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into two consent orders, available here and here, with two national credit reporting agencies over allegations that the agencies violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act by misrepresenting how lenders use certain credit scores that the agencies…

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