On December 9, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it received a temporary restraining order against a student loan servicer over allegations the servicer and its operator misled consumers into thinking they were receiving student debt relief and forgiveness. According to the FTC’s complaint, the Nevada-based servicer and its operator made telemarking calls and…
On December 4, 2024, the CFPB announced that it entered into a proposed stipulated judgment with a student loan servicer and its owner, resolving allegations that the student loan servicer violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). According to the judgment, the servicer at issue and its owner illegally…
On September 17, 2024, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced it had taken enforcement action against three companies issuing two desist and refrain orders and one consent order against the businesses for allegedly charging unlawful fees for student loan debt relief services, in violation of the California Consumer Financial Protection Law…
On September 12, 2024, the CFPB announced that it entered into a stipulated proposed order with a large student loan servicer resolving allegations that the servicer forced borrowers into costly repayment options. Under the proposed order, the servicer would cease its servicing federal direct loans. In a January 2017 complaint, the CFPB accused the…
On July 22, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced that the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida had granted its motion for a temporary restraining order against a debt relief company that allegedly targeted Spanish-speaking consumers in Puerto Rico, among others. The FTC has alleged that the company “pretended to…
On June 28, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed its first federal case under the newly implemented Impersonation Rule, effective as of April 1, 2024. The case alleged that various student loan debt relief companies and their owners operated as a common enterprise and, after falsely claiming affiliation with…
On May 31, 2024, the CFPB announced that it had filed suit against a Pennsylvania-based student loan servicer for engaging in allegedly unfair, deceptive and abusive acts or practices in violation of the CFPA, 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531, 5536(a)(1)(B), and for failing to establish reasonable credit reporting procedures in violation of Regulation V, 12…
On May 20, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a California-based telemarketer that offered student loan debt relief services resolving allegations that the company charged illegal advance fees and misled student loan borrowers. This telemarketer allegedly claimed to be affiliated with the Department of…
On May 6, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed a complaint and two proposed stipulated final judgments to resolve its claims against the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts (the Trusts) and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency d/b/a American Education Services (PHEAA). The CFPB alleges that the Trusts and PHEAA violated…
On April 24, 2024, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced that it had entered into a consent order with the Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri (MOHELA), resolving allegations that MOHELA failed to timely provide DFPI with information detailing the contact information of certain Californian student loan…
On April 17, 2024, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with BloomTech Inc., d/b/a Bloom Institute of Technology (BloomTech), and BloomTech’s CEO, Austen Allred, resolving allegations that the company’s practices with respect to income-share agreements (ISAs) violated various consumer protection statutes. BloomTech, formerly known…
On November 8, 2023, the Minnesota Attorney General (Minnesota AG) announced that the state had reached a settlement with a California-based student-loan debt-relief provider over miscellaneous state law allegations. Specifically, the Minnesota AG alleged that the company did not register as a debt settlement services provider with the Minnesota Department of Commerce as required by Minn. Stat. § 332B.03. The…
On October 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that that they had filed a complaint and entered into a stipulated order with a for-profit college and its parent company. Under the consent order, the college will cancel $3.4 million in student debt, resolving allegations that it made false claims about post-graduation job placements and…
On October 17, 2023, the Washington State Attorney General (AG) announced that over the course of 2023, they had recovered approximately $360,000 in restitution from three out-of-state debt adjusters for alleged predatory student debt adjustments in violation of the Debt Adjustment Act. The Debt Adjustment Act limits the amount of fees a debt adjuster…
On August 21, the FTC announced that the U.S. District Court of Central California issued a temporary restraining order against two companies accused of targeting students seeking debt relief and collecting $8.8 million in illegal advanced fees in exchange for student loan debt relief services that did not exist. In its complaint,…
On July 13, 2023, the CFPB and various state attorneys general, along with California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, filed an adversary proceeding against a sales training company for deceptive marketing and debt collection practices relating to the company’s allegedly illegal student loan program. The eight-count complaint, filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court…
On February 14, 2023, the Minnesota Attorney General (AG) announced a settlement with a California-based student-loan debt relief company to resolve allegations that the company operated a fraudulent student loan debt forgiveness scheme. The AG alleged that the company violated Minnesota’s Debt Settlement Services Act, Minn. Stat. §§ 332B.03-.12, the Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act, Minn. Stat. §…
On November 18, 2022, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office (Minnesota AG) announced that it entered into a consent order with a California student-loan debt-relief company to resolve allegations that the company illegally collected fees from customers and mispresented its services to consumers. According to the Minnesota AG, the company “falsely promised consumers student-loan…
In September 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a special edition of Supervisory Highlights regarding recent examination findings related to student loan servicing. The Supervisory Highlights focus on three sets of “significant supervisory findings:” (i) blanket policies to withhold transcripts in connection with an extension of credit are abusive…
On June 9, 2022, the CFPB announced that it had reached an agreement with the former owner of a student-loan debt relief company banning the owner from the debt-relief industry. The CFPB filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California alleging that the individual violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act…