On July 30, 2020, the Massachusetts Attorney General (Massachusetts AG) announced a settlement with a Nevada-based debt buyer regarding a portfolio of loan debt it purchased from a for-profit education company. The settlement resolves the Massachusetts AG’s allegations that, between 2010 and 2016, the for-profit education company misled students by…
On June 23, 2020, the New York Office of Attorney General (New York AG) announced that it reached a $17 million settlement with a mortgage originator and servicer. The New York AG alleged that the company violated New York’s mortgage servicing regulations, 3 N.Y.C.R.R. Part 419, by failing to make reasonable and…
On June 23, 2020, the New York Office of Attorney General (New York AG) announced that it reached a $3.6 million settlement with a national debt settlement company for allegedly violating the terms of a March 2011 settlement. Under the previous settlement, the company was alleged to have engaged in fraudulent or…
On June 11, 2020, the North Dakota Office of the Attorney General (AG) announced that it had entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance agreement with a California-based debt relief company, under which the company agreed to issue refunds to North Dakota consumers and to cease doing business in North…
On June 22, 2020, the Massachusetts Attorney General announced a settlement with a Florida-based mortgage loan servicer following an investigation into the servicer’s debt collection practices. Specifically, the settlement resolves allegations that the servicer made excessive calls to distressed homeowners and failed to provide written notice of their right to…
On June 5, 2020, the Attorney General for the District of Columbia (DC AG) announced that it had filed a complaint in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia against an online lender for allegedly making illegal loans to over 2,500 DC consumers in violation of the Consumer Protection…
On May 22, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (Mass AG) announced that they had filed a complaint against a credit repair company and the owner of the company in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleging that they had engaged in deceptive…
On May 19, 2020, a coalition of 34 state attorneys general announced a settlement of over $550 million with an auto financing company. The settlement is the result of a five year, multi-state investigation into the company’s subprime lending practices. The company is alleged to have used a sophisticated credit scoring…
On May 6, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, in ACA International v. Healey, Case No. 1:20-cv-10767-RGS, enjoined Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (AG Healey) from enforcing provisions of the emergency regulation, 940 CMR 35.00, et seq. (Regulation), prohibiting debt collection calls and initiating lawsuits during…
On April 29, 2020, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had settled its claims against a California-based student loan debt settlement company for alleged violations of Minnesota’s Debt Services Settlement Act, Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act, and Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Specifically, the AG alleged that the company…
On March 9, 2020, the Massachusetts attorney general’s office (Massachusetts AG) announced that it had entered into a consent judgment with a national used car company resolving allegations that the company’s local Massachusetts franchise engaged in predatory lending and deceptive sales of defective vehicles. According to the Massachusetts AG’s complaint, filed in September 2017, the company…
On January 21, 2020, the Massachusetts attorney general’s office (Massachusetts AG) announced that it has secured $1.25 million from one of the country’s largest online lending companies to resolve allegations that the company charged excessive interest rates to Massachusetts borrowers in violation of M.G.L. ch. 93A and Massachusetts’ Small Loan Statute, M.G.L. c. 140 s. 96, which prohibits any personal…
On January 10, 2020, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced that, in concert with the New York Attorney General (New York AG), it had entered into a consent order and settlement with an unlicensed mortgage-lending business to resolve allegations that the business illegally made predatory, subprime loans in…
On November 19, 2019, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had settled its investigation into a used car dealership’s allegedly unfair and deceptive sales practices in violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act. The AG alleged that the Massachusetts car dealership and its owner misrepresented material information about…
On November 11, 2019, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had settled an investigation against a national debt buyer and collector for alleged violations of Massachusetts’ consumer protection law and debt collection regulations through its debt-collection practices. Specifically, the AG alleged that the debt collector pressured debtors…
On October 31, 2019, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (“Michigan AG”) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against an online tribal lender for allegedly charging borrowers interest rates in excess of state usury laws and committing unfair, deceptive, and/or abusive acts or practices under…
On October 21, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that, together with the Attorneys General (AGs) of Minnesota, North Carolina, and California, it had filed a complaint and sought a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against a group of debt relief companies. …
On October 16, 2019, the Washington Attorney General’s Office (Washington AG) announced that it had reached a settlement with a Kirkland- and Portland-based real estate investment company that requires the company to dissolve and pay up to $85,000 in fines and enforcement costs. The Washington AG initiated this action in May 2018, alleging violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, RCW 19.86.020. …
On October 3, 2019, the New York Attorney General’s office (NY AG) announced that it had filed a lawsuit against a major student-loan servicer for failing to properly administer the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. According to the complaint, the servicer allegedly employed deceptive, unfair, and abusive practices such…
On September 23, the California Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had filed a complaint against a network of auto dealerships and its chief executive, alleging that they targeted low-income consumers with subprime credit using false advertising promising fictitiously low interest rates; made false statements on credit applications to…