Links in “Fines, Penalties, Suits, and Settlements”

Mountain America Credit Union has agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a claim brought by HUD for allegations that the credit union had violated the Fair Housing Act. The claim began with a complaint by a married couple who claimed that their mortgage application had been denied because the wife was out on maternity leave. The credit union stated that its investigation showed that the credit union had never had engaged in any discriminatory practice, but both the credit union and HUD decided it was best to enter into a conciliation agreement. [6/27/14]

The CFPB has ordered GE Capital Retail Bank to pay the “largest credit card discrimination settlement in history,” $225 million, to compensate consumers for discriminatory and illegal credit card practices. The bureau found that GE Capital used deceptive marketing practices to promote add-on products, including deceiving customers as to their eligibility for benefits and not disclosing that customers were making a purchase. [6/27/14]

HUD announced today a Conciliation Agreement between the Connecticut Fair Housing Center (CFHC) and respondents Lil-1 Associates, AllPoints Realty and realtor Lillian Polak.  The real estate companies will pay more than $24,000 to settle allegations that they published discriminatory listings and advertisements for condominiums specifying that children were not permitted; which is in direct violation with the Fair Housing Act. [6/27/14]

The FTC handed down another ruling against a Houston-based debt collection agency that used deceptive tactics to bully English and Spanish-speaking consumers into paying debts. The agency used false and deceptive methods to collect more than $1.3 million in what they called “convenience fees” and “transaction fees” from consumers who authorized payments over the phone. [6/26/14]

HUD Utah-based Mountain American Credit Union will settle for $25,000 based on allegations of discrimination against prospective borrowers on maternity leave, breaching the Fair Housing Act’s prohibition against sex and familial status discrimination. [6/26/14]

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development receives a complaint from the National Fair Housing Alliance about a real estate company, sends in black testers and white testers. Black testers were steered toward "rough" neighborhoods, while white testers were steered toward "safer" neighborhoods. The company will pay a fine, agree to provide training and establish a non-discrimination policy. [6/25/14]

Excessively priced force-placed insurance, written by two insurers responsible for more than 90% of force-placed coverage, resulted in premiums that were 79% above what was considered "reasonable" to cover claims, according to a recent report. FHFA may seek to recover some of that excess. [6/25/14]

French banking giant BNP Paribas is looking at a fine of up to $9 billion for processing billions of dollars in transactions involving Sudan, Iran, and Cuba. Many of the suspect transactions were routed through the U.S. DOJ, and the Manhattan District Attorney's office and the New York State Department of Financial Services are on the case. [6/24/14]

An employee of a business customer of BankSouth apparently fell for a phishing scheme, which allowed the bad guys to learn the user name and password of the employee. The business declined to use bank-offered "dual controls," which would require two separate employees to complete the transfer action, for the sake of convenience. When the business lost $588,000 in a cyberheist, it sued the bank and not only lost, but the court has said the bank can now pursue its legal fees against the customer. [6/23/14]

The CFPB ordered GE Capital Retail Bank to provide $225 million in remediation for  deceptive credit card add-on practices, discriminatory debt relief promotions, and for violating fair lending laws. CFPB's Director Cordray states, "this kind of conduct has no place in the consumer financial marketplace." Cordray's press release details each violation and the action to be taken by the CFPB. [6/20/14]