The CFPB has obtained a default judgment in the lawsuit it filed in October 2017 in Maryland federal district court against two commonly-owned debt relief companies, their affiliated payment processor, and three individual principals for alleged violations of the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Consumer Financial Protection Act.  (The debt relief company defendants were Federal Debt Assistance Association, LLC and Financial Document Assistance Administration, Inc. … Continue Reading

Last Friday, as expected, the FTC announced the launch of a coordinated federal-state law enforcement initiative targeting deceptive student loan debt relief companies.  According to the FTC, 11 states and the District of Columbia are participating in the initiative, which is being called “Operation Game of Loans.”  The participating states are Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington,

The initiative includes seven FTC actions, including an action filed by the FTC earlier this month in Florida federal court, and 29 actions by state AGs.… Continue Reading

A recent flurry of FTC enforcement activity targeting companies offering student loan debt relief services suggests such companies could be the subject of the announcement scheduled for tomorrow “of a major coordinated consumer fraud enforcement initiative” between the FTC and state attorneys general.

The announcement was originally scheduled to be made on October 11 at a press conference in Chicago, Illinois featuring Thomas Pahl, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. … Continue Reading

Last week, the CFPB published a blog post with tips for consumers facing a cash flow emergency.

We were glad to see that the blog post included a warning to consumers about debt relief or settlement companies.  The CFPB advised consumers to beware of for-profit debt relief or settlement companies that promise to pay off consumers’ debts for “pennies on the dollar” or charge fees before settling debts, guarantee to eliminate unsecured debt, or tell consumers to stop communicating with creditors.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has filed a complaint in a California federal district court against three law firms and two individual attorneys alleging that they offered debt relief services to consumers in violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA).

The CFPB’s complaint alleges that in offering debt relief services, the defendants “aligned themselves” with Morgan Drexen, Inc.,… Continue Reading

The CFPB announced the filing of a proposed stipulated final judgment and order in its December 2014 lawsuit against Student Loan Processing.US (a fictitious business name of Irvine Web Works, Inc.) and its individual owner.  Filed in a California federal district court, the CFPB’s lawsuit alleged that the defendants violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) prohibition of unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) by conduct that included falsely representing an affiliation with the U.S.… Continue Reading

A Florida federal district court has entered a preliminary injunction against several companies and an individual who were named as defendants in a complaint filed by the CFPB in August 2015 charging them with violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) and Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).

The complaint alleges that the defendants operated debt relief businesses that charged advance fees in violation of the TSR. … Continue Reading

On December 11, the CFPB announced lawsuits against two student loan debt relief companies alleged to have deceived borrowers into paying upfront fees for federal student loan repayment benefits that are available for free.

The action against College Education Services LLC and its individual owners, which was filed jointly by the CFPB and the Florida Attorney General in a Florida federal district court, alleged that the company violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) prohibition of unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. … Continue Reading

The CFPB has announced that it has entered into a proposed consent order with Premier Consulting Group LLC and a related law firm to settle claims that the defendants charged consumers upfront fees in violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). The consent order requires the defendants to pay a civil penalty of $69,075 which, according to the CFPB, represents the amount of advance fees the defendants took from consumers who did not have any debts settled. … Continue Reading

The latest chapter in the CFPB’s “comprehensive effort to address consumer harm and to root out unlawful practices across the debt settlement industry” is a settlement announced yesterday with Global Client Solutions, “a leading debt-settlement payment processor,” its CEO, and the chairman of its parent company’s board of directors.  In its complaint filed in a California federal court concurrently with the proposed stipulated final judgment and consent order, the CFPB alleged that the defendants had violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) by assisting and facilitating the charging of unlawful advance fees by debt-relief companies (DRCs) and that such unlawful conduct also violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act. … Continue Reading