Financial Institution Fraud

October 12, 2017

The CFPB sued Federal Debt Assistance Association, LLC, Financial Document Assistance Administration, Inc. (both operating under the name “FDAA”), Clear Solutions, Inc., and their owners, Vincent Piccione, David Piccione, and Robert Pantoulis, for falsely presenting the two FDAA companies as being affiliated with the federal government. The Bureau also alleges that FDAA’s so-called “debt validation” programs violated the law by falsely promising to eliminate consumers’ debts and improve their credit scores in exchange for thousands of dollars in advance fees. The lawsuit seeks to end these deceptive practices, obtain redress for harmed consumers, and impose civil money penalties. CFPB

September 27, 2017

The CFPB ordered real estate settlement services provider Meridian Title Corporation to pay up to $1.25 million in redress to consumers for steering them to a title insurer owned in part by several of its executives without making disclosures about the businesses’ affiliation. CFPB

September 19, 2017

The CFPB filed a complaint and proposed consent order against Top Notch Funding, its owner Rory Donadio, and his business associate John “Gene” Cavalli, for lying in loan offerings to consumers who were awaiting payment from settlements in legal cases or from victim-compensation funds. The Bureau seeks $70,000 in civil money penalties and an order preventing Top Notch, Donadio, and Cavalli from offering or providing such products in the future. CFPB

September 18, 2017

The CFPB took action against the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts and their debt collector, Transworld Systems, Inc., for illegal student loan debt collection lawsuits. The Bureau ordered National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts to pay at least $19.1 million. It also ordered Transworld Systems, Inc. to pay a $2.5 million civil money penalty. CFPB

September 6, 2017

The CFPB ordered Zero Parallel, LLC, an online lead aggregator, pay a $100,000 penalty for steering consumers toward lenders who offered illegal or unlicensed loans that were void in the consumer’s state. The CFPB also ordered Zero Parallel’s owner, Davit Gasparyan, to pay a $250,000 penalty for similar illegal conduct at his prior company, T3Leads, in a separate case. CFPB

August 30, 2017

The CFPB filed a proposed final judgment in a federal lawsuit against Prime Marketing Holdings, LLC for illegal credit repair practices. The proposed order would permanently ban the company from doing business within the credit repair industry and require a $150,000 civil money penalty. CFPB

August 23, 2017

The CFPB ordered American Express to pay at least $1 million for the actions of two of its banking subsidiaries that discriminating against consumers in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other U.S. CFPB

August 17, 2017

The CFPB filed a complaint and proposed settlement against Aequitas Capital Management, Inc. and related entities, for aiding the Corinthian Colleges’ predatory lending scheme by enabling Corinthian to make high-cost private loans to students that both Aequitas and Corinthian knew students could not afford. Under the CFPB’s proposed settlement, about 41,000 Corinthian students could be eligible for approximately $183.3 million in loan forgiveness and reduction. CFPB

August 2, 2017

The CFPB ordered JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. to pay a $4.6 million penalty and implement necessary policy changes to address its failure to have proper, legally-required processes for reporting accurate consumer checking account behavior to consumer reporting companies. CFPB