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Although we thought an announcement that the CFPB had begun taking complaints about new products would be made at its field hearing on consumer complaints last week, that announcement was made today.  The CFPB announced that it is now taking complaints from consumers about prepaid cards, such as gift cards, benefit cards, and general purpose reloadable cards. … Continue Reading

Constitutional challenges to the CFPB’s authority have not ended with Director Cordray’s confirmation last week as CFPB Director.  Yesterday, a lawsuit was filed against the CFPB in federal district court in Washington, D.C. by two targets of the CFPB’s crackdown on the debt relief industry which claims that the agency’s structure violates the Constitution because it “insulates [the CFPB] from political accountability and internal checks and balances.” … Continue Reading

This past Thursday, the CFPB announced that it filed a complaint against a Florida debt-relief company that misled consumers across the country. Following an investigation into American Debt Settlement Solutions, Inc. (ADSS) and its owner, Michael DiPanni, the CFPB found that ADSS was charging its consumers upfront fees for debt-relief services without actually settling most of the consumers’ debts.… Continue Reading

At a press conference yesterday in New York City, Director Cordray announced that the CFPB had made a criminal referral to the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York arising out of the CFPB’s investigation of two debt-relief service providers and related entities.

In its press release about the referral, the CFPB announced that it had also filed a civil complaint in the SDNY federal district court against such providers, related entities and an individual alleging that the defendants had charged advance fees in violation of the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule and engaged in deceptive and unfair practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (meaning Title X of Dodd-Frank).… Continue Reading

In the first action of its kind since the agency’s creation, the CFPB, Attorneys General from New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Wisconsin, and the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection joined forces to enjoin a debt-relief service provider from conducting business in violation of federal laws and the laws of the five participating states. … Continue Reading