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CFPB

OCC Consent Orders With Bank of America, Wells Fargo, HSBC and Other Banks on Debt Collection, Foreclosure & Robosigning

In June 2015, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued several consent orders dealing with misconduct by large banks. Two were new, against Bank of American and Wells Fargo for newly discovered misconduct. The remainder dealt with the failure by large banks, including Wells Fargo to abide by the terms of existing Consent… Read More »OCC Consent Orders With Bank of America, Wells Fargo, HSBC and Other Banks on Debt Collection, Foreclosure & Robosigning

A Proposal to Ban Collecting on Time-Barred Debt

A new National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) report argues that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) should use its power to ban the collection of statute-barred debts:

In light of the inherent unfairness, deceptiveness and abusiveness that occur when collectors pursue time-barred debt and the inability of disclosures to adequately protect consumers, the CFPB should ban all efforts to collect out-of-statute debt—whether by litigation or other means.

Read More »A Proposal to Ban Collecting on Time-Barred Debt

Jeff Sovern’s Groundbreaking Study on Forced Arbitration Clauses: Consumers are Unaware and do not Understand Them

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has to make an important decision soon, about arbitration clauses. Forced arbitration clauses (or “mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses” as they are sometimes called) appear in many standard consumer contracts. If you have a Paypal account, a mobile phone contract, a credit card, an employment contract, or if you have purchased a car of other large consumer item, the chances are that all of these contracts have forced arbitration clauses in them. Most people don’t read consumer contracts very closely, and many if not most people have ever even heard of forced arbitraiton. But suppose that you gave 600 ordinary American consumers a typical contemporary consumer contract, asked them to read it and then gave them a quiz. How would they do?

That is more or less what a major study by the St John’s University School of Law led by Professor Jeff Sovern did. It seeks to answer the question: do we understand forced arbitration clauses?

Read More »Jeff Sovern’s Groundbreaking Study on Forced Arbitration Clauses: Consumers are Unaware and do not Understand Them

How Forced Arbitration in Boilerplate Contracts Strips Away Consumer Rights

Fine print boilerplate is everywhere, but what can be done to stop it? Theresa Amato writes in The Nation that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should take four steps to promote fairness in consumer contracts:

  1. Prohibit forced arbitration clauses in consumer contracts
  2. Maintain a searchable database of all standard form contracts used by the industries it regulates
  3. Develop its own “consumer-road-tested contracts” and prohibit certain terms, such as those that prohibit public criticism of the business involved, or waive liability for negligence.
  4. Promote a “fair contract” symbol to make it easy to identify contracts which conform to the standards proposed.
Read More »How Forced Arbitration in Boilerplate Contracts Strips Away Consumer Rights

CFPB Report: Older Consumers Face Debt Collection Problems

The CFPB has released this report about debt collection complaints made by older consumers (those identifying themselves as 62 or older). The report reveals that older consumers suffer similar collection problems to consumers generally. Nearly 50% of complaints are about the collection of debts that older consumers do not owe, and in nearly 30% of… Read More »CFPB Report: Older Consumers Face Debt Collection Problems

CFPB Supervision Reports Highlights Failings by Student Loan Servicers and Collectors

The CFPB’s Fall 2014 supervisory highlights, covering supervisory activity between March and June, points to failings by student loan servicers and debt collectors. The highlights identified six failings by student loan servicers, including misleading statements to consumers and telephone harassment. Debt collectors’ misconduct included charging illegal convenience fees to consumers paying by credit card, false threats of litigation and improper disclosure to third parties.

Read More »CFPB Supervision Reports Highlights Failings by Student Loan Servicers and Collectors

CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman Report Reveals Private Student Loan Securitization Problems

The CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman has issued a report on consumer complaints about student loans. Of particular interest is situation of private student loan borrowers, whose loans were securitized (bolding added by me for emphasis): While securitization is often closely associated with the mortgage market, securitization activity in the student loan market has also been… Read More »CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman Report Reveals Private Student Loan Securitization Problems

credit protection

U.S. Bank Fined Over Identity & Credit Protection Add-Ons

CFPB has fined U.S. Bank over its sale of two identity & credit protection add-on products they offered credit card customers. “Privacy Guard” and “Identity Secure” were paid services sold to credit card customers between 2003 and 2012. Sold as add-ons for credit protection, CFPB found that some customers didn’t get the protections they were… Read More »U.S. Bank Fined Over Identity & Credit Protection Add-Ons