December 2014

In recent years, the industry has seen various types of foreclosure rescue fraud perpetrated against borrowers, lenders, and servicers.  One example is a California-based scam that caused losses of more than $2.5 million whereby the scam’s orchestrators recorded fraudulent documents in local courthouses in an effort to “cloud title” and halt or stall the foreclosure…

A settlement between the New York Department of Financial Services and automotive lender Condor Capital Corp., as well as Condor’s owner, Stephen Barron, was approved this week by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The settlement will result in total payments to the State and consumers of up to…

We have previously reported on the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s concern that the recent explosive growth of nonbank specialty mortgage servicers may pose operational and liquidity risks to such servicers and put in jeopardy Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (collectively, the Enterprises) that guarantee these mortgages.  In particular, FHFA concluded that the nonbank servicers’ use…

On October 31, a United States District Court certified a Fair Credit Reporting Act class action involving claims that an employer procured a background check through an improper disclosure form and took adverse action without following the proper adverse action protocol.  Although the Court’s decision did not address the merits of the case, the Court…

On December 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a report calling for stricter and more extensive regulations to the Military Lending Act.  The report, titled The Extension of High-Cost Credit to Servicemembers and Their Families, comes on the heels of a recent action by the CFPB, in which Virginia and North Carolina…

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell has announced that he has settled claims against Stonebridge Benefit Services, Inc., a company that markets discount membership programs, and J.C. Penney Company, Inc., from which Stonebridge obtained consumer credit card information.

Texas-based Stonebridge sells membership programs that provide discounts for various goods and services.  Customers’ credit cards are subject…

On December 23, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a proposed rule amending Regulation E, 12 C.F.R. §§ 205.1 et seq. – which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1693 et seq. – and Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. §§ 226.1 et seq. – which implements the Truth in Lending Act, 15 U.S.C.

On December 8, the Southern District of Indiana released a decision relating to the interplay between the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and bankruptcy.  In Grandidier v. Quantum3 Group, LLC, the District Court denied a motion to dismiss a plaintiff’s complaint relating to the supposed filing of a time-barred proof of claim in the…

In November, Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliot of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued the first “recommended decision” in a litigated Consumer Financial Protection Bureau administrative enforcement action.

In In re PHH Corporation, et. al., the CFPB alleged this residential mortgage lender was engaged in a nearly 15-year “mortgage insurance kickback scheme” by…

By all accounts, 2014 was a particularly busy one for the Federal Trade Commission in taking enforcement actions in the automobile sales and financing industry.  The FTC’s last public action of 2014 in the auto finance and sales area involved a suburban Dallas dealer, charged with using deceptive ads to promote the sale and lease…