Since Donald Trump’s election, federal white-collar enforcement has taken a big hit. Fines and settlements against corporations have plummeted. Prosecutions of individuals are falling to record lows. But just how these fines and settlements came to be slashed is less well understood. Two settlements with giant banks over financial crisis-era misdeeds provide a window into … Read more
A lawsuit filed by a consumer on Juanry 14, 2019 is a painful read if all the facts alleged are proven to be true. It’s the kind of battle against a large financial company that you hate to hear about. It is said Ditech Financial made a gross accounting error to the account of Dawn … Read more
MoneyGram International, Inc. has agreed to pay $125 million to settle allegations that the company failed to take steps required under a 2009 Federal Trade Commission order to crack down on fraudulent money transfers that cost U.S. consumers millions of dollars. The $125 million payment is part of a global settlement that resolves allegations that … Read more
Under the heading of You Can’t Make This Stuff Up, Wells Fargo just sent out a newsletter that calls credit card debt, bad debt. I guess their mortgage division didn’t discuss this with their credit card division. The page from the newsletter, which you can see above, calls mortgage debt good and credit card debt … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, 9 years ago I had two loans with the credit union and one of my cars was repo’d. I have paid the other car off in full many years later and they won’t give me the title. I am find handing over my car that is paid off. But now they are … Read more
Consumer Education Services Inc. (CESI) announced today that CEO Michael Croxson will be a speaker covering Financial Inclusion at the upcoming LendIt Fintech USA 2018 conference April 9-11 in San Francisco. The LendIt Fintech conference is the world’s leading event in financial services innovation, and features more than 5,000 attendees, 1,000 investors, 600 banks and … Read more
Wells Fargo will pay $142 million to settle a bevy of class-action lawsuits over the bank’s creation of unauthorized accounts. If you think the San Francisco-based financial institution created sham accounts in your name, here’s what you need to know to get a piece of the settlement. If you are, or were, a Wells Fargo … Read more
by Jesse Eisinger ProPublica, Jan. 23, 2017, 8 a.m. Wells Fargo, the largest mortgage lender in the country, portrays itself as a stalwart bank that puts customers first. That reputation shattered in September, when it was fined $185 million for illegally opening as many as 2 million deposit and credit-card accounts without customers’ knowledge. Now … Read more
Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is suing TCF National Bank for tricking consumers into costly overdraft services. Banks cannot charge overdraft fees on one-time debit purchases and ATM withdrawals without a consumer’s consent. The Bureau alleges that TCF designed its application process to obscure the fees and make overdraft seem mandatory for new … Read more
Bank of America is getting out of the consumer credit card business, except in the homeland. In the UK this morning Bank of America announced it was getting rid of it’s credit card business it had bought from MBNA and passing it on to Lloyds Bank. The Delaware Business Times is reporting “The sale completes … Read more
For the most part the announcement from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) are painful boring. Sorry fellas. But this one looks like it could provide some innovative changes to the banking industry that could disrupt things for the better. The OCC says: “On December 2, 2016, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas … Read more
Much has been said in recent days about Wells Fargo Bank getting nabbed for opening bogus accounts. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said, “The Bank’s employees secretly opened accounts and shifted funds from consumers’ existing accounts into these new accounts without their knowledge or permission to do so, often racking up fees or other … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, My husband and I paid off a credit card with Citibank based on a 10 day pay off. Citibank then stated we owed another $44.74 in interest. They then charged a $35 late fee. I again called them to get a new pay off which was $109. We paid the $109 when … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, My credit union is holding my car title hostage for an unpaid charged off visa. Ok, the vehicle was paid off 6 years ago, the car is no longer registered because it needs a new transmission, I refuse to dump anymore money into a 12 year old car, I can’t junk it … Read more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has ordered Springstone Financial, LLC to provide $700,000 in relief to victims of deceptive credit enrollment tactics. Many consumers who signed up for Springstone’s deferred-interest loan product at dental offices to pay for dental work were led to believe that the product was interest free. In fact, interest accrued … Read more