Goodwin’s Consumer Finance Insights (CFI) monitors, reports, and analyzes the latest legal news, activity, and developments impacting the consumer finance industry. Consumer financial services companies—whether banks, fintechs, nonbank and alternative lenders, payment providers, or industry vendors or service providers, like digital advertisers and lead generators—face a constantly shifting and maturing regulatory and legal landscape. Growing from the Financial Crisis, today more than any time in history the consumer finance industry must confront a robust and growing body of industry legislation and regulation, all while under the microscope of sophisticated enforcers, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and state regulators and attorneys general. It is critical for in-house and outside corporate counsel, compliance departments, and business executives to stay informed and aware of these developments to navigate institutional, reputational, and legal risks. Goodwin’s CFI is a singular source of the most recent industry news and latest enforcement activity for you to leverage. Here, you will find links to original enforcement documents, enforcement activity statistics, and reports, analysis, and commentary from Goodwin’s leading Consumer Financial Services Litigation and Enforcement practitioners.

CFPB and Debt Settlement Company Agree to Stipulated Final Judgment and Order

​On May 17, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it has entered​ into a stipulated judgment​ and order​ to resolve a civil action that it previously filed against a debt settlement company in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on December 1, 2020, as previously reported he​​re. ​The CFPB initially filed suit against the debt settlement company…

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CFPB Sends Notification Letters to Landlords Regarding COVID-19 Evictions

On May 3, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent notification letters reminding the nation’s largest apartment landlords of federal protections in place to keep tenants in their homes and stop the spread of COVID-19.   The Notification Letter points to the Centers for Disease…

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FDIC Announces $1.8 Million Settlement with Oregon-Based Bank

​On May 10, 2021, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced​ a settlement with an Oregon-based bank concerning the bank’s alleged violations of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1).  Under the settlement, the bank stipulated to the issuance of an order​ to pay a civil money penalty of $1.8 million. The FDIC…

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California Settles with Online School for Allegedly Deceptive Financing Practices

On April 26, 2021, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced that it had entered into a settlement agreement with an online coding school, resolving allegations that the school engaged in deceptive acts and practices in violation of California’s new Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL). The school offers its…

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FTC Settles FCRA Claims With Home Security Company for $20 Million

FTC

On April 29, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it had reached a settlement with a Utah-based home security company to resolve allegations that the company misused consumer credit reports when determining whether prospective customers qualified for financing to purchase the company’s products and services. In a complaint filed by the Department of…

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Indiana AG Secures $1.3 Million Default Judgment Against Illinois-based Debt Collector

On Ap​ril 14, 2021, the Indiana Attorney General (Indiana AG) announced that his office obtained a default judgment against an Illinois-based debt collection agency and the agency’s owner. The original complaint filed by the Indiana AG alleged the agency violated Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act by improperly threatening borrowers with legal action, such as liens…

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CFPB Seeks to Hold Mortgage Servicers Accountable, and Establish New Mechanisms for Protecting Borrowers, Against Forthcoming Increase In COVID-19 Foreclosures

This month the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) doubled-down on its earlier warning that the end of 2021 could see widespread foreclosures as COVID-19-related protections expire, by issuing guidance to mortgage servicers, and a notice of proposed rulemaking, regarding actions mortgage servicers can take to deal with the onslaught.  On…

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CFPB Settles with Online Debt-Settlement Company for Alleged CFPA and TSR Violations

On April 13, 2021 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it reached a settlement with an online debt-settlement company to resolve alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531, 5536(a), 5564, 5565, and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), 6 C.F.R. Part 310. According to the complaint, the…

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Minnesota AG Announces Settlement with Student Loan Debt Relief Company

On April 13, 2021, the Minnesota Attorney General Office (Minnesota AG) announced that it reached a settlement with a California-based student-loan debt-relief company resolving alleged violations of Minnesota’s Debt Services Settlement Act, Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act, Minn. Stat. § 325F.69, et seq.,​ and Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Minn. Stat. § 325D.43, et seq. The Minnesota…

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Pennsylvania AG Settles with Student Loan Debt Buyer for $2.6 Million

Piggy Bank with a Graduation Cap

On April 6, 2021, the Pennsylvania Attorney General (Pennsylvania AG) announced that it reached an agreement with a Texas-based debt buyer concerning a portfolio of student loan debt it purchased from a now-defunct for-profit college. According to the Pennsylvania AG, the debt purchaser purchased the portfolio of loans after the for-profit college abruptly closed in December 2018 due to…

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CFPB Announces $860,000 Settlement with Debt Collection Company for Alleged Deceptive Practices and CFPA Violations

​On April 6, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a third-party debt collection company and its former owner for alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531, 5536 and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et ​​seq. The CFPB alleged that…

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CFPB Releases Annual Report on Administration of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

On March 19, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its annual report to Congress regarding its administration of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).  The CFPB and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) share government enforcement responsibility for the FDCPA, and work together to coordinate their respective efforts…

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FTC Settles with California-Based Mobile Banking App Over Interest Rates and Access to Funds

FTC

On March 29, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had reached a settlement ​with a California-based mobile banking app, resolving allegations that the company had misled consumers about their ability to access their funds and the interest rates they would receive on their accounts. As we reported ​in November of last year, the FTC alleged…

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HUD Approves Settlement with Mortgage Lender Resolving Claims of Lending Discrimination

On March 19, 2021, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced ​that it approved a settlement with a national mortgage lender concerning allegations that the mortgage lender discriminated against a consumer in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) when it denied the consumer’s mortgage loan application. The consumer filed a complaint with HUD…

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