Enforcement actions

The agency wants the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts, which sell student loan asset-backed securities (ABS) to investors, to pay $2.25 million in fines to borrowers.

Four companies are fighting CFPB enforcement actions by claiming the agency cannot be funded by the Federal Reserve, which has not been profitable since 2022. The consumer bureau calls the new legal theory "meritless."

The agency's new leadership, which has already unwound numerous actions from the prior administration, said the January 2020 guidance implementing criteria for punishing firms that mistreat customers was “inconsistent with the bureau’s duty to enforce Congress’s standard.”

As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau slowed its pursuit of bad actors, state attorneys general vowed to pick up the slack. Here’s why they fell short — and why they are poised to get aggressive again.

Interim CFPB Director Dave Uejio expressed concern that financial institutions have dragged their feet in resolving disputes with consumers for service issues during the pandemic.

Dave Uejio, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, promised to protect veterans from predatory loans and to crack down on companies that improperly garnish stimulus checks or mistreat struggling borrowers.

The regulator's demands for ending the action were excessive, Ocwen claimed.

The agency said Omni Financial in Las Vegas illegally required service members to designate a portion of their paychecks to repay loans, depriving of them of other payment options.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is headed for more disruption in the new year with a Democratic administration likely to reverse several GOP-backed policies. More aggressive relief for mortgage borrowers, a rollback of Trump-era rulemakings and yet another realignment of CFPB offices will all be on the table.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said that the Dallas-based auto lender knowingly supplied inaccurate consumer data to the three major credit reporting agencies.

The consumer bureau said the bank’s migration to a new servicing platform led to unauthorized payment withdrawals, misrepresentations about what borrowers owed and violations of a prior 2015 enforcement action.

The company was accused of sending borrowers erroneous loan modification information between 2014 and 2018.

On the same day that Mr. Cooper announced a settlement with state and federal authorities over its servicing practices, the Dallas company, U.S. Bank and PNC reached separate agreements with DOJ regarding bankrupt borrowers.

The agency’s consolidation of supervision and enforcement policy into one office could compromise the independence of those deciding when to investigate alleged wrongdoing by banks and others, critics of the move say.

The California plan to create a new, tougher state regulatory agency is at the finish line after lawmakers agreed to key exemptions for banks while maintaining strong enforcement measures for payday lenders and other firms.

A proposal to expand consumer protections in the state was added to a budget bill after being dropped in June. Financial institutions say the measure conflicts with federal law and are working behind the scenes to stop it.

The Detroit lender disclosed that the consumer bureau had sent a civil investigative demand to Rocket Homes Real Estate for potential violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

The agency sought to provide certainty that most actions from the past eight years remain in effect despite the ruling that the bureau's leadership structure is unconstitutional.

Kathy Kraninger was grilled about whether her agency and others were doing enough to cushion consumers from the economic blow of the coronavirus crisis.

The agency's effort to engage with lawmakers on a whistleblower award program is one of three initiatives the bureau announced to advance its strategy of preventing consumer harm.