On June 21, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had filed a lawsuit against affiliated companies offering services to repair consumers’ damaged credit. The FTC’s Complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, alleged that the companies used deceptive marketing campaigns that promised to eliminate derogatory credit from consumers’ credit reports and raise…
On December 6, 2018, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (“CFPB”) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a federal savings association headquartered in Bloomington, Ill. According to the consent order, the CFPB alleged that the savings association violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.,…
On October 30, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had obtained a stipulated order for a permanent injunction and monetary judgment against two individuals for allegedly using fake rental property ads to lure consumers to visit websites promising “free” credit reports. When consumers visited those websites, the individuals allegedly deceived them…
On August 2, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a national bank, resolving allegations as to the bank’s allegedly unlawful credit reporting activities. According to the CFPB, the bank violated several federal laws with respect to its reporting practices, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15…
On June 27, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed two complaints and proposed final judgments against four California-based credit repair companies for misleading consumers and charging illegal fees. The CFPB alleged that the companies charged illegal advance fees for credit repair services and misrepresented their ability to repair…
On March 23, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a California-based credit reporting agency (CRA) and its subsidiaries, resolving allegations that the CRA deceived consumers by misrepresenting that the credit score reports that it marketed to consumers were used by lenders in determining a consumer’s credit worthiness….
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…
On December 21, 2016, the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office (“Arkansas AG”) announced that it had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas against a Florida-based credit repair company, stemming from allegations that the company made false and misleading representations to consumers. The Arkansas…
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 19, 2016, Mississippi Attorney General (AG) Jim Hood announced that “the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies will overhaul their business practices and two of the agencies will offer Mississippians unlimited access to free credit reports over the next three years in order to resolve the Attorney General’s…