On May 31, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it settled claims against a loan debt relief company in connection with its coordinated federal-state enforcement initiative to target deceptive student loan debt relief scams, called “Game of Loans.” The FTC settled claims that the company violated the FTC Act,…
On March 7, 2018, the Virginia Attorney General’s Office (“Virginia AG”) filed a complaint against two related loan companies and their owner (the “Defendants”) in Virginia state court. According to the complaint, the Defendants engage in the practice of purchasing portions of Virginia citizens’ pension payments in exchange for a…
On May 8, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted its request to preliminarily enjoin affiliated California-based debt relief companies from continuing operations, and to freeze their assets. In its complaint, the FTC alleged that the companies violated Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act,…
On May 4, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring (“VA Attorney General”) announced that its Predatory Lending Unit had filed suit in Virginia state court against a Chicago-based online lender, alleging violations of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, Virginia Code §§ 59.1-196 to 59.1-207 (“VCPA”). The complaint alleges that the lender, one of the largest online…
On May 8, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it had reached a voluntary settlement with a family-owned Minnesota bank, resolving allegations that the bank had violated the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq. (“FHA”) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1691 et seq. (“ECOA”) by…
On Tuesday, May 8, 2018, Anthony Alexis, head of Goodwin’s Consumer Financial Services Enforcement Practice and former Assistant Director and Head of the Office of Enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Kyle Tayman, partner in Goodwin’s Consumer Financial Services Enforcement Practice, kicked off Goodwin’s State of Enforcement Series with the webinar “What’s Happening Inside the CFPB and…
On April 20, 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) each announced settlements totaling $1 billion with a national bank resulting from a coordinated action between the two agencies. The OCC found that deficiencies in the bank’s enterprise-wide compliance risk management program…
On April 19, 2018, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office (“Illinois AG”) announced that it had filed a complaint against a Nevada-based company that claimed to “purchase” portions of consumers’ pension plans. According to the complaint, these transactions constituted predatory installment loans with excessive interests rates in violation of Illinois law. The complaint alleges that the…
On April 4, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (“Georgia AG”) announced an $8.5 million settlement with a national debt collector, resolving allegations that the company violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act. The Georgia AG had alleged that the company harassed and deceived consumers…
On March 28, 2018, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced it had filed a lawsuit in the Central District of California against an auto lender for allegedy repossessing the vehicles of members of the armed forces protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”), 50 U.S.C. § 3952. According to the complaint,…