On November 8, 2023, the Minnesota Attorney General (Minnesota AG) announced that the state had reached a settlement with a California-based student-loan debt-relief provider over miscellaneous state law allegations. Specifically, the Minnesota AG alleged that the company did not register as a debt settlement services provider with the Minnesota Department of Commerce as required by Minn. Stat. § 332B.03. The…
On November 2, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had reached a settlement with a New York based personal finance application over claims that the app violated the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 45(a), 53(b), 57b, and Section 5 of the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act…
On October 30, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) granted a permanent injunction containing a lifetime ban for the owner of a small-business lending company for unfair business practices and aggressive debt collection methods. On September 27, 2023, Judge Jed. S. Rakoff of SDNY granted summary…
On August 2, 2023, the CFPB announced that it had filed a complaint against a Georgia-based auto-loan servicer alleging “unfair acts and practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (CFPA), 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531(a), 5536(a)(1).” The complaint, filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia,…
On July 6, 2023, the FTC announced that it had entered into a consent order with a Florida-based vehicle extended warranty provider and its principal under which both agreed to cease all operations and any further involvement with extended automobile warranty sales as a result of what the FTC alleged were deceptive marketing…
On May 31, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with an Indiana-based non-bank installment lender. The consent order alleges that the lender engaged in unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices concerning the “marketing, sales, and financing of optional ancillary products” that it offered. Specifically, the…
On May 31, 2023, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), announced that it had entered into a settlement with a Philadelphia based bank and trust company over allegations that the bank had engaged in unlawful redlining in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. In the Complaint, filed contemporaneously with the consent order in U.S. District Court for the…
On December 22, 2022, the Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) announced a settlement with a South Carolina mortgage servicing company to resolve allegations that the company violated state mortgage servicing and debt collection laws. After an investigation, the AG alleged that the servicer did not take “reasonable steps” to help borrowers avoid foreclosures…
On August 3, 2022, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a Florida-based lending company that allegedly made “illegal loans.” Specifically, the consent order alleges that the company’s policy of making “buy now, pay later” arrangements for point-of-sale transactions qualified as “loans,” subjecting…
On June 22, 2022, the USAO for the Eastern District of Washington announced that it had reached a settlement with a California-based mortgage lender for fraudulent originations of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) backed loans. The investigation began as a qui tam action filed under seal in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern…
On June 9, 2022, the CFPB announced that it had reached an agreement with the former owner of a student-loan debt relief company banning the owner from the debt-relief industry. The CFPB filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California alleging that the individual violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act…
On May 26, 2022, the North Carolina Attorney General (NC AG) announced that it obtained a default judgment against a California-based debt settlement business, and its proprietor. The lawsuit, filed on June 25, 2021 in the North Carolina Superior Court for Wake County, alleged that the entity violated North Carolina’s Debt Adjusting Act, N.C. Gen. Stat….
On May 23, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the New York Attorney General (NY AG) announced that they have settled a case filed against six New York debt collection companies and affiliated individuals, resolving a one-and-a-half year enforcement action. The original complaint was filed on September 20, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Western…
On April 21, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a joint enforcement action with the New York Attorney General (NY AG) against one of the largest international remittance providers in the United States. The seven-count complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, challenges the Dallas-based company’s remittance…
On April 15, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it obtained a permanent injunction against an Illinois-based, offshore, for-profit medical school for deceptive marketing practices. In its complaint and stipulated order filed same-day in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the FTC alleged that the school violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) when…
On March 21, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it obtained a permanent injunction against a credit repair company and its CEO, barring the company from making representations that it can improve consumers’ credit scores. The injunction was issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas in relation…
On March 11, 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Eastern District of Virginia filed a consent order and settlement with a Virginia-based credit union for alleged violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleged that the defendant unlawfully charged…
On March 9, 2022 the Arizona Attorney General (AG) filed a proposed consent judgment with a California-based lender and its corporate affiliates in Arizona state court. The operative complaint, filed May 7, 2020, alleged that the defendants violated the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, A.R.S. § 44-1521, et seq., and state usury laws, by making…
On November 23, 2021, the New York Attorney General (“NYAG”) announced an agreement shutting down a Buffalo, NY based debt collection firm that the NYAG alleges violated the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (“FDCPA”), the Consumer Financial Protection Act (“CFPA”), and various provisions of the New York General Business Laws. …