On September 12, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had settled lawsuits against the operators of two alleged student loan debt relief schemes, and a financing company that assisted them, alleging that they had bilked millions of dollars from consumers. The FTC alleged that the defendants violated…
On September 6, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against a Texas-based foreclosure relief services company, as well as the company’s CEO and auditor. The CFPB alleges that the defendants violated…
On August 19, 2019, the Colorado Attorney General (AG) announced that it had reached a settlement with two financial services firms, resolving allegations that the firms had violated Colorado consumer protection laws. Between 2017 and 2019, one of the firms – a lender operating in the state – made numerous…
On August 28, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a settlement with an Illinois-based debt collection company, resolving allegations that the company engaged in deceptive practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531 and 5536, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. §…
On August 27, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it had reached a $30 million settlement with an Illinois-based operator of for-profit post-secondary schools and related subsidiaries resolving allegations that the company used lead generators who engaged in deceptive conduct to market its schools in violation of Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission…
On August 14, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Office of the Arkansas Attorney General (AG) entered into a proposed stipulated final judgment with three corporations that brokered extensions of credit to consumers, and the co-founder and owner of one of the corporations. The simultaneously filed complaint, filed…
On August 12, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a proposed settlement with a for-profit higher-education institution. The CFPB filed a complaint against the institution in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on February 26, 2014, alleging that the institution had violated the Consumer…
On August 7, 2019, the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“Massachusetts AG”) announced that it filed a complaint and consent judgment in Suffolk County Superior Court. The consent judgment bans a purportedly unlicensed finance company from collecting on any active student loan debt relief accounts in Massachusetts, and requires the company to pay $340,000 to repair the credit of…
On July 25, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and the New York Attorney General (“New York AG”) announced that they have filed two proposed settlements with three debt collection companies and two individuals who conducted business together in Buffalo, New York. The proposed settlements were filed in the U.S. District Court for…
On July 23, 2019, Delaware’s Department of Justice, Consumer Protection Unit (“Delaware CPU”) announced that it reached a settlement with two-California based companies that would require them to cease advertising and selling loan modification and debt relief services in the state of Delaware. According to the cease and desist agreement, the companies and their…