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CFPB and Florida AG Obtain Judgment Against Law Group and Corporate Affiliates for "Mass-Joinder" Foreclosure Relief Scam
On May 29, a final order was entered against a law group and its corporate affiliates in an action brought by the CFPB and the State of Florida. The July 2014 complaint alleged that the law group and its affiliates violated Regulation O, or the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule, and Florida state law by convincing consumers to participate in “mass-joinder” lawsuits against their mortgage lenders with the false promise that the suits would result in mortgage modifications or foreclosure relief. More specifically, the defendants’ Regulation O violations included: (i) charging consumers advance fees before obtaining loan modifications for them; (ii) misrepresenting success rates of receiving a loan modification; (iii) deceiving consumers into believing that they would receive legal representation; and (iv) discouraging consumers from making their loan payments and/or communicating with their lenders or servicers. The final order, which follows a temporary restraining order and an asset freeze against the defendants, requires that the defendants pay redress to victims and a total of $16 million in civil and state penalties and cease all business operations. Final orders were issued against the three named individuals in the suit as well.
Department of Education Proposes Rules to Reign In Fees on Student Financial Accounts
The Department of Education is set to propose new regulations which could change how financial institutions provide services on college campuses, according to a NPRM to be published in the Federal Register on May 18. The new rules, part of a nearly 300-page “Program Integrity and Improvement” package, are intended to among other things (i) ensure that students have convenient access on their Title IV funds, (ii) do not incur unreasonable and uncommon financial account fees, and (iii) are not led to believe they must open a particular account from a financial institution to receive Federal student aid. The proposed regulations also update other provisions in the cash management regulations, clarify how previously passed coursework is treated with respect to Title IV funds eligibility, and streamline the requirements for converting clock hours to credit hours. Public comments on the proposed rulemaking will be due 45 days after date of publication in the Federal Register.
CFPB Tackles Payment Processor for Charging Servicemembers Hidden Fees, Orders Over $3 Million in Consumer Relief
On April 20, the CFPB announced an enforcement action against a Kentucky-based third-party processor of military allotments and its subsidiary – together “Respondents” – for allegedly charging servicemembers millions of dollars in hidden fees. According to the Bureau, servicemembers set up allotment arrangements with the Respondents, and the Respondents were to pay creditors – auto lenders, installment lenders, and retail merchants – on behalf of deployed servicemembers. The Bureau alleges that from 2010 to 2014, the company violated UDAAP provisions of the Consumer Financial Protection Act by failing to (i) adequately disclose information about various fees associated with the Respondents’ services; and (ii) inform servicemembers when they were being charged residual-balance fees. The consent order requires that the Respondents pay approximately $3.1 million in relief to the affected servicemembers.
CFPB and Navajo Nation Partner in UDAAP Action Against Companies Involved in Alleged Tax Refund Scheme
On April 14, the CFPB along with the Navajo Nation jointly announced an enforcement action against two companies and their respective owners (Defendants) for running an alleged tax-refund scheme, marking the CFPB’s “first enforcement action taken in conjunction with a tribal government.” According to the complaint, the Defendants operated several tax-refund franchises in New Mexico and in the Navajo Nation territory in which clients were offered short-term, triple-digit APR loans secured by the consumer’s anticipated tax refund, also known as refund anticipation loans (“RALs”). The CFPB and Navajo Nation contend, among other things, that the Defendants (i) steered low-income and vulnerable consumers toward high-cost RALs; (ii) understated the APR of the RALs in disclosure agreements to consumers; and (iii) failed “to disclose that consumers’ tax refunds had been received and would soon be available, but instead persuaded consumers to take out additional RALs.” Under the terms of the proposed consent order, the Defendants would, among other things, (i) pay approximately $438,000 in total consumer redress, which consists of $256,267 in redress fees in addition to roughly $184,000 that has already been paid to affected consumers; (ii) incur $438,000 in civil money penalties; and (iii) be barred, for five years, from offering products associated with tax refunds. The consent order also would prohibit the Defendants from investing, financing, or working for an entity that offers tax refund products.
FTC Announces Results of "Operation Ruse Control" on Auto Industry
On March 26, the FTC announced the results of Operation Ruse Control, “a nationwide and cross-border crackdown” on the auto industry with the intent to protect consumers who are purchasing or leasing a car. Efforts taken jointly by the FTC and its law enforcement partners resulted in over 250 enforcement actions, including the six most recent cases that involved (i) fraudulent add-ons; (ii) deceptive advertising; and (iii) auto loan modification. According to the press release, the FTC recently took its first actions against two auto dealers for its add-on practices, which allegedly violate the FTC Act by failing to disclose the significant fees associated with offered programs or services and misrepresenting to consumers that they would save money. Three auto dealers recently “agreed to settle charges that they ran deceptive ads that violated the FTC Act, and also violated the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and/or Consumer Leasing Act (CLA).” Finally, at the FTC’s request, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida temporarily put an end to the practices of a company that charged consumers an upfront fee to “negotiate an auto loan modification on their behalf, but then often provided nothing in return.” The FTC’s recent actions are indicative of its ongoing efforts to prevent alleged fraud within the industry.
CFPB Seeks Consumer Feedback in Review of Credit Card Market
On March 17, the CFPB announced a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public comment on key aspects of the credit card market. This RFI is a part of a review mandated by the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (the CARD Act)—a law passed in 2009 that requires the CFPB to conduct a review of the credit card market every two years. The review seeks feedback on how the credit card market has functioned over the last two years and the impact new credit card protections have had on consumers. Specifically, the review solicits input on the changing patterns of credit card agreement terms, unfair or deceptive practices within the credit card market, the use of third-party debt collection agencies, and how consumers understand credit card reward products. Information obtained from the review will culminate in a public report to Congress.
CFPB Orders Nonbank Mortgage Lender to Pay $2 Million Penalty for Deceptive Advertising and Kickbacks
On February 10, the CFPB announced a consent order with a Maryland-based nonbank mortgage lender, ordering the lender to pay a $2 million civil money penalty, in part for allegedly failing to disclose its financial relationship with a veteran’s organization to consumers. According to the consent order, the CFPB alleged that the lender, whose primary business is originating refinance mortgage loans guaranteed by the VA, paid a veteran’s organization a fee to be named the “exclusive lender” of the organization and that failing to disclose this relationship in marketing materials targeted to the organization’s members constituted a deceptive act or practice under the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB further alleged that, because the veteran’s organization urged its members to use the lender’s products in direct mailings from the lender, call center referrals, and through the organization’s website, the monthly “licensing fee” and “lead generation fees” paid to the veteran’s organization and a third party broker company as part of marketing and referral arrangements constituted illegal kickbacks in violation of RESPA. In addition to the civil penalty, the consent order requires the lender to end any deceptive marketing, cease deceptive endorsement relationships, submit a compliance plan to the CFPB, and comply with additional record keeping, reporting, and compliance monitoring requirements.
CFPB Files Suit Against Texas Company for Alleged Deceptive Practices Targeting Union Workers
On December 17, the CFPB announced it filed suit against a Texas-based company for allegedly deceiving consumers into paying fees to sign up for a “sham” credit card. According to the complaint filed in the Northern District of Texas, the CFPB alleges that the company falsely advertised a general-use credit card that, in actuality, could only be used to buy products from the company. The CFPB further alleges that the company deceptively implied an affiliation with unions by, among other things, using pictures of nurses, firefighters, and other public servants in its advertising. The complaint seeks compensation for consumers, a civil penalty, and an injunction against the company.
Special Alert: CFPB Takes Enforcement Action Against "Buy-Here, Pay-Here" Auto Dealer for Alleged Unfair Collection and Credit Reporting Tactics
On November 19, the CFPB announced an enforcement action against a ‘buy-here, pay-here’ auto dealer alleging unfair debt collection practices and the furnishing of inaccurate information about customers to credit reporting agencies. ‘Buy-here, pay-here’ auto dealers typically do not assign their retail installment sale contracts (RISCs) to unaffiliated finance companies or banks, and therefore are subject to the CFPB’s enforcement authority. Consistent with the position it staked out in CFPB Bulletin 2013-07, in this enforcement action the CFPB appears to have applied specific requirements of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to the dealer in its capacity as a creditor based on the CFPB’s broader authority over unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts practices.
Alleged Violations
The CFPB charges that the auto dealer violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act, 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531, 5536, which prohibits unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices, by (i) repeatedly calling customers at work, despite being asked to stop; (ii) repeatedly calling the references of customers, despite being asked to stop; and (iii) making excessive, repeated calls to wrong numbers in efforts to reach customers who fell behind on their auto loan payments. Specifically, the CFPB alleges that the auto dealer used a third-party database to “skip trace” for new phone numbers of its customers. As a result, numerous wrong parties were contacted who asked to stop receiving calls. Despite their requests, the auto dealer allegedly failed to prevent calls to these wrong parties or did not remove their contact information from its system.
In addition, the CFPB alleges that the auto dealer violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by (i) providing inaccurate information to credit reporting agencies; (ii) improperly handling consumer disputes regarding furnished information; and (iii) not establishing and implementing “reasonable written policies and procedures regarding the accuracy and integrity of the information relating to [customers] that it furnishes to a consumer reporting agency.” Specifically, the CFPB alleges that, since 2010, the auto dealer did not review or update its written furnishing policies, despite knowing that conversion to its third-party servicing platform had led to widespread inaccuracies in furnished information. Also, the consent order alleges that the auto dealer received more than 22,000 credit disputes per year, including disputes regarding the timing of repossessions and dates of first delinquency for charged-off accounts, but nevertheless furnished inaccurate information.
Resolution
The consent order requires the auto dealer to (i) end its alleged unfair collection practices; (ii) provide collection options to customers explaining how customers can limit the times of day that the auto dealer can contact them; (iii) provide affected customers with a free annual credit report from one or more of the credit reporting agencies which received inaccurate information; and (iv) pay an $8 million dollar civil money penalty.
Further, the auto dealer must (i) cease reporting inaccurate repossession information; (ii) correct inaccurate credit reporting information; (iii) implement an audit program to assess the accuracy of information furnished to credit reporting agencies on at least a monthly basis; and (iv) retain an independent consultant to review the auto dealer’s collection and furnishing policies, procedures, and practices and then implement any recommendations or explain in writing why it is not implementing a particular recommendation.
CFPB’s Continued Focus on Auto Finance
This action is the latest CFPB enforcement effort in connection with auto finance. In August, the CFPB fined a Texas auto finance company $2.5 million for allegedly failing to have reasonable policies and procedures regarding the accuracy and integrity of customer information furnished to the credit reporting agencies. This action also comes on the heels of the CFPB’s October proposed rule defining the larger participants of the automobile financing market. The comment period on the proposed rule ends December 8th. We anticipate additional CFPB auto finance-related actions as its authority expands.
CFPB Report Highlights Errors In Mortgage And Student Loan Servicing
On October 28, the CFPB released the fifth edition of its Supervisory Highlights report. The report highlighted the CFPB’s recent supervisory findings of regulatory violations and UDAAP violations relating to consumer reporting, debt collection, deposits, mortgage servicing and student loan servicing. The report also provided updated supervisory guidance regarding HMDA reporting relating to HMDA data resubmission standards. With respect to consumer reporting, the report identified a variety of violations of FCRA Section 611 regarding dispute resolution. The report noted findings of several FDCPA and UDAAP violations in connection with debt collection, including: (i) unlawful imposition of convenience fees; (ii) false threats of litigation; (iii) improper disclosures to third parties; and (iv) unfair practices with respect to debt sales. For deposits, the report identified several Regulation E violations found, including: (i) error resolution violations; (ii) liability for unauthorized transfers; and (iii) notice deficiencies. The report outlines four main compliance issues identified in the mortgage servicing industry: (i) new mortgage servicing rules regarding oversight of service providers; (ii) delays in finalizing permanent loan modifications; (iii) misleading borrowers about the status of permanent loan modifications; and (iv) inaccurate communications regarding short sales. Finally, the report outlines six practices at student loan servicers that could constitute UDAAP violations: (i) allocating the payments borrowers make to each loan, which results in minimum late fees on all loans and inevitable delinquent statuses; (ii) inflating the minimum payment due on periodic and online account statements; (iii) charging late fees when payments were received during the grace period; (iv) failing to give borrowers accurate information needed to deduct loan interest payments on tax filings; (v) providing false information regarding the “dischargeable” status of a loan in bankruptcy; and (vi) making debt collection calls to borrowers outside appropriate hours.