Oct. 13: A Busy Week at the CFPB

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Justice Department today issued a joint statement that reminds financial institutions that all credit applicants are protected from discrimination on the basis of their national origin, race, and other characteristics covered by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, regardless of their immigration status. The CFPB and Justice Department are issuing this statement because consumers have reported being rejected for credit cards as well as for auto, student, personal, and equipment loans because of their immigration status, even when they have strong credit histories and ties to the United States and are otherwise qualified to receive the loans. Read more

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action against a rental screening subsidiary of the TransUnion conglomerate for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The TransUnion company failed to take steps to ensure the rental background checks that landlords use to decide who gets housing were accurate. The company also withheld, from renters, the names of third parties that were providing the inaccurate information. The CFPB and FTC requested a federal court to order the TransUnion company to pay $15 million for its lawbreaking behavior and to make significant improvements to how it reports evictions. Read more

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a special edition of its Supervisory Highlights focused on the agency’s efforts to protect consumers from illegal junk fees. The junk fees discussed in the report – including fees for fake paper statements and worthless add-on products for auto loans – can strain the financial stability of even the most financially savvy families. As a result of the CFPB’s supervisory work, the companies in today’s report are refunding $140 million to consumers, $120 million of which is for surprise overdraft fees and double-dipping on non-sufficient funds fees. A separate report today finds that most financial institutions have eliminated non-sufficient funds fees, saving consumers an estimated $2 billion every year. Read more