Archive for April, 2021

California Settles with Online School for Allegedly Deceptive Financing Practices

On April 26, 2021, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced that it had entered into a settlement agreement with an online coding school, resolving allegations that the school engaged in deceptive acts and practices in violation of California’s new Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL). The school offers its…

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FTC Settles FCRA Claims With Home Security Company for $20 Million

FTC

On April 29, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it had reached a settlement with a Utah-based home security company to resolve allegations that the company misused consumer credit reports when determining whether prospective customers qualified for financing to purchase the company’s products and services. In a complaint filed by the Department of…

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Indiana AG Secures $1.3 Million Default Judgment Against Illinois-based Debt Collector

On Ap​ril 14, 2021, the Indiana Attorney General (Indiana AG) announced that his office obtained a default judgment against an Illinois-based debt collection agency and the agency’s owner. The original complaint filed by the Indiana AG alleged the agency violated Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act by improperly threatening borrowers with legal action, such as liens…

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CFPB Seeks to Hold Mortgage Servicers Accountable, and Establish New Mechanisms for Protecting Borrowers, Against Forthcoming Increase In COVID-19 Foreclosures

This month the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) doubled-down on its earlier warning that the end of 2021 could see widespread foreclosures as COVID-19-related protections expire, by issuing guidance to mortgage servicers, and a notice of proposed rulemaking, regarding actions mortgage servicers can take to deal with the onslaught.  On…

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CFPB Settles with Online Debt-Settlement Company for Alleged CFPA and TSR Violations

On April 13, 2021 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it reached a settlement with an online debt-settlement company to resolve alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531, 5536(a), 5564, 5565, and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), 6 C.F.R. Part 310. According to the complaint, the…

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Minnesota AG Announces Settlement with Student Loan Debt Relief Company

On April 13, 2021, the Minnesota Attorney General Office (Minnesota AG) announced that it reached a settlement with a California-based student-loan debt-relief company resolving alleged violations of Minnesota’s Debt Services Settlement Act, Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act, Minn. Stat. § 325F.69, et seq.,​ and Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Minn. Stat. § 325D.43, et seq. The Minnesota…

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Pennsylvania AG Settles with Student Loan Debt Buyer for $2.6 Million

Piggy Bank with a Graduation Cap

On April 6, 2021, the Pennsylvania Attorney General (Pennsylvania AG) announced that it reached an agreement with a Texas-based debt buyer concerning a portfolio of student loan debt it purchased from a now-defunct for-profit college. According to the Pennsylvania AG, the debt purchaser purchased the portfolio of loans after the for-profit college abruptly closed in December 2018 due to…

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CFPB Announces $860,000 Settlement with Debt Collection Company for Alleged Deceptive Practices and CFPA Violations

​On April 6, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a third-party debt collection company and its former owner for alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531, 5536 and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et ​​seq. The CFPB alleged that…

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