On September 6, 2017, the CFPB announced that it has taken action against an online lead aggregator. The allegations revolved around the company’s selling personal information of consumers who were interested in small-dollar or installment loans to online lenders. It was alleged that the loans ultimately offered to consumers were, or were likely to be, void… Read More
Tag Archives: CFPA
ACH Debit Transactions – Whose Agent Are You?
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement Actions, UDAAPTucked away in a seeming innocuous paragraph in a complaint, the CFPB has asserted an extraordinary and potentially far-reaching expansion of its authority. On June 6, 2016, the CFPB filed an action in a U.S. district court asserting that Intercept Corporation (Intercept) (and each of its owners) engaged in unfair acts and practices in violation… Read More
Is the CFPB the New Cop on the Data Security Beat?
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement Actions, Privacy, UDAAPOn March 2, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) broke new ground (at least for the CFPB) when it released a consent order against Dwolla, Inc., an online payment platform, regarding data security. While in many respects the data security “message” sent by the CFPB is not a new one (e.g., companies must live up to… Read More
CFPB Takes Action Against Lead Aggregators
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement ActionsOn December 17, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it has taken action against lead aggregators that resold sensitive personal information to lenders and debt collectors. In a complaint against T3Leads and a consent order against a sole proprietorship (“Lead Publisher”), the CFPB alleged that the lead aggregators exposed millions of consumers… Read More
CFPB Keeps the Heat on Debt Collection, Consumer Reporting
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement ActionsOn December 7, 2015, the CFPB announced another consent order going after a firm for alleged violations the Consumer Financial Protection Act, FCRA, and FDCPA. The CFPB alleges that Massachusetts debt collection firm Collecto, Inc. (dba EOS) paid a cell phone provider over $35 million for a portfolio of more than three million cellphone accounts,… Read More
CFPB Wins MTD, But Loses on Scienter Standard for Aiding-and-Abetting Claims
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement ActionsA federal judge has rejected the CFPB’s argument that the CFPA should incorporate a lower standard for “recklessness” than that to secondary liability under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (“SEC Act”). On September 1, 2015, in one of the first decisions substantively interpreting standards for aiding and abetting under the CFPA, Consumer Financial… Read More
CFPB Increasingly Aiming “Abusiveness” Claims at Servicemember Products and Services
Posted in Auto Lending, CFPB, Disparate Impact, Enforcement Actions, Military IssuesAre servicemembers more financially vulnerable than the civilians they protect? Recent enforcement actions suggest that, in the CFPB’s view, they are. While the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) provides more financial protections to servicemembers than civilian consumers have, the Bureau has also begun to use the CFPA to assert “abusive” claims in cases involving alleged… Read More
Fall 2014 Supervisory Haiku-lights
Posted in CFPB, Mortgage, Student Lending, Supervisory HighlightsA few times a year, CFPB Supervision publishes Supervisory Highlights, which provides general information about examination findings without identifying specific institutions. We know you readers are busy—and literary!—so below we present key takeaways from Supervision’s Fall 2014 report in one of our favorite poetic forms: haiku. student lenders must allocate payments fairly not to increase… Read More