servicemember

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The Justice Department announced in a March 15 press release that it has reached an agreement with property management company PRG Real Estate Management (PRG) and several related entities to settle claims that PRG violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by obtaining evictions and money judgments against service-member tenants by filing affidavits that did not accurately reflect the tenants’ military status.… Continue Reading

Early last year, several trade groups, including the National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA), sent letters petitioning the Department of Defense (DoD) to rescind or withdraw Question and Answer #2 (Q&A 2) from its 2016 interpretative rule for the Military Lending Act (MLA) final rule and its December 2017 amendments.  Q&A 2 has generated much uncertainty regarding application of the MLA’s exemption for purchase money transactions that also finance the purchase of GAP insurance. … Continue Reading

Servicemembers are the subject of heightened legal protections.  In this week’s podcast, we discuss the CFPB’s annual report on servicemember complaints issued at the end of last month.  We look at the products that received the most complaints from servicemembers, the specific issues complained about, and the litigation and regulatory risks to consumer financial service providers the report could generate.… Continue Reading

The CFPB’s Office of Servicemember Affairs has released its annual report on complaints submitted to the Bureau by servicemembers.

The report covers the period April 1, 2017 through August 31, 2018.  During that period, the Bureau received approximately 48,800 complaints from servicemembers, with credit reporting, debt collection, and mortgages, respectively, the first, second, and third most-complained-about financial products or services. … Continue Reading

The Department of Justice recently entered into a settlement with Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union to resolve allegations that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by repossessing vehicles owned by servicemembers without first obtaining the required court orders.  The settlement agreement  requires Hudson Valley to pay $65,000 to compensate seven servicemembers whose vehicles were alleged to have been unlawfully repossessed and to pay a $30,000 civil penalty to the United States. … Continue Reading

The CFPB’s October 2017 complaint report, which the CFPB calls a “special edition” monthly complaint report, departs from the format of the CFPB’s standard monthly reports.  (The CFPB’s June and July 2017 complaint reports were also called a “special edition.”)  Instead of analyzing monthly complaint trends and highlighting complaints received about a particular product and from consumers in a particular state and city, the new report provides data on servicemember complaints on a nationwide and state-by-state basis. … Continue Reading

A group of Democratic Senators have introduced a bill, the “Military Consumer Protection Act” (S. 1565), that would amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) to include various sections of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) within the list of laws defined by the CFPA as “enumerated consumer laws.”… Continue Reading

A new CFPB report, “A snapshot of servicemember complaints,” focuses on issues related to VA mortgage refinancing.

The report indicates that as of November 1, 2016, the CFPB had received over 12,500 mortgage complaints from servicemembers, veterans, and their dependents.  The CFPB determined based on a key word search of complaint narratives that approximately 18% (about 1,800) of those complaints concern refinance issues.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued its third snapshot of complaints received from servicemembers, veterans and their families (“servicemember complaints”).  The report covers complaints received from July 21, 2011 through December 31, 2014.  In 2014, the CFPB received more than 17,000 complaints from such individuals (out of a total of approximately 29,500 complaints received over the entire period covered).… Continue Reading

The CFPB has announced a settlement with two companies that processed military allotments and were alleged to have charged fees to servicemembers that the companies failed to adequately disclose.  The consent order requires the companies to pay a $3.065 million judgment to be deposited into a fund administered by the CFPB or its agent to be used for redress to injured consumers.… Continue Reading