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

HUD alleged that Dubuque, Iowa's residency preference point system put African Americans at a disadvantage. Dubuque agrees to eliminate the preference system and submit any changes to its Housing Choice Voucher distribution program to HUD for review. [4/16]

CFPB issued a civil investigative demand in June 2012 to three tribally related payday lenders. The lenders requested the CFPB set aside the CIDs. The CFPB denied the petition, but granted the lenders an extension to October 2013, a date which has come and gone without further response. Now the CFPB has filed a petition in U.S. District Cout seeking to enforce the order. [4/15]

Bank of America to refund customers $727 million and pay $45 million in fines for card add-on products, such as deceiving customers into buying credit monitoring and identity theft protection. CFPB indicates it will be "vigilant in [its] pursuit of companies who wrong consumers in this market." [4/10]

OCC assessed its own $25 million penalty against Bank of America and its credit card subsidiary FIA Card Services along with $459.5 million in restitution for the 1.9 million consumer accounts for unfair and deceptive acts or practices violations associated with the bank's practices for add-on products related to identity theft protection. [4/10]

CFPB (see also OCC penalty) orders Bank of America, N.A. and FIA Card Services, N.A. to provide an estimated $727 million in relief to approximately 1.4 million consumers harmed by practices related to credit card add-on products. An additional $20 million CMP will be paid to CFPB by BofA as the 5th major FI fined for deceptive marketing of their add-on products related to credit monitoring and credit reporting services that were promoted, but not received. [4/10]

A CFPB enforcement attorney testifies before a House Financial Services Committee subcommittee that she experienced gender discrimination and retaliation for filing an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint. [4/4]

A judge recommends dismissal of case against Bank of America for allegedly misleading investors about the quality of $850 million in mortgage loans. It would be the first for about a dozen companies targeted under FIRREA. [3/31]

Detroit man loses case against a debt collector over a $2,000 phone bill. His case was built on the grounds that his debt collection notice said he was to respond within 30 days "of" receiving notice, when the regulation says people have 30 days to respond "after" getting a notice. Nice try. [3/28]

Bank of America's settlement to resolve allegations of fraud for securities sold during the housing bubble comes in at $9.33 billion, bringing the total of settlements thus far to $57.5 billion. [3/27]

The Illinois Attorney General files suit against a small loan lender alleging violations of Dodd-Frank. This appears to the first lawsuit of its kind file by a state attorney general. [3/27]