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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

CFPB and South Carolina settle with loan broker for veteran pension loans

Courts CFPB State Issues CFPA State Regulators Loan Broker Installment Loans Military Lending

Courts

On October 30, the CFPB and the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs filed a proposed final judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina to settle an action alleging that two companies and their owner (collectively, “defendants”) violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act and the South Carolina Consumer Protection Code by offering high-interest loans to veterans and other consumers in exchange for the assignment of some of the consumers’ monthly pension or disability payments. As previously covered by InfoBytes, in October 2019, the regulators filed an action alleging, among other things, that the majority of credit offers that the defendants broker are for veterans with disability pensions or retirement pensions and that the defendants allegedly marketed the contracts as sale of payments and not credit offers. Moreover, the defendants allegedly failed to disclose the interest rate associated with the offers and failed to disclose that the contracts were void under federal and state law, which prohibit the assignment of certain benefits.

If approved by the court, the proposed judgment would require the defendants to pay a $500 civil money penalty to the Bureau and a $500 civil money penalty to South Carolina. The proposed judgment would permanently restrain the defendants from, among other things, (i) extending credit, brokering, and servicing loans; (ii) engaging in deposit-taking activities; (iii) collecting consumer-related debt; and (iv) engaging in any other financial services business in the state of South Carolina. Additionally, the proposed judgment would permanently block the defendants from enforcing or collecting on any contracts related to the action and from misrepresenting any material fact or conditions of consumer financial products or services.