On December 5, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that a federal court in Texas has halted the operations of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider that allegedly played a key role in robocalling consumers to promote a credit card interest reduction scheme that bilked consumers out…
On November 25, 2019, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed concurrent consent orders against a Kentucky-based military travel loan lender (here) and its loan servicer (here). The lender sold and financed airline tickets to military servicemembers and their families from 2010-2016 by both facilitating financing by other creditors and originating loans itself. The CFPB…
On November 12, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that on it had filed a lawsuit against a collection of interrelated companies and individual defendants for allegedly misrepresenting themselves as affiliated with the Department of Education in order to convince consumers to sign up for student loan debt relief. The…
On November 11, 2019, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had settled an investigation against a national debt buyer and collector for alleged violations of Massachusetts’ consumer protection law and debt collection regulations through its debt-collection practices. Specifically, the AG alleged that the debt collector pressured debtors…
On November 6, 2019, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced a settlement with a Seattle-based bank over alleged violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). According to the FDIC, the bank, through a now-discontinued business line, entered into certain co-marketing and desk rental arrangements with real estate…
On October 31, 2019, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (“Michigan AG”) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against an online tribal lender for allegedly charging borrowers interest rates in excess of state usury laws and committing unfair, deceptive, and/or abusive acts or practices under…
On October 30, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced an action to halt a student-loan debt-relief operation engaged in allegedly unlawful conduct. The CFPB filed its complaint on October 21, 2019 and requested a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California….
On October 21, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that, together with the Attorneys General (AGs) of Minnesota, North Carolina, and California, it had filed a complaint and sought a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against a group of debt relief companies. …
On October 16, 2019, the Washington Attorney General’s Office (Washington AG) announced that it had reached a settlement with a Kirkland- and Portland-based real estate investment company that requires the company to dissolve and pay up to $85,000 in fines and enforcement costs. The Washington AG initiated this action in May 2018, alleging violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, RCW 19.86.020. According…
On October 3, 2019, the New York Attorney General’s office (NY AG) announced that it had filed a lawsuit against a major student-loan servicer for failing to properly administer the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. According to the complaint, the servicer allegedly employed deceptive, unfair, and abusive practices such…