InfoBytes Blog
CFPB Files Suit and Obtains Injunction Against Participants of Alleged Illegal Debt Collection Scheme
On April 8, the CFPB announced that it filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on March 26 against participants in an allegedly illegal debt collection operation, involving certain payment processors and a telephone broadcast service provider. The complaint alleges that several individuals and the companies they formed, based in New York and Georgia, attempted to collect debt that consumers did not owe or that the collectors were not authorized to collect. The complaint further alleges uses of harassing and deceptive techniques in violation of the CFPA and FDCPA. Specifically, the collectors allegedly placed robo-calls through a telephone broadcast service provider, also named in the complaint, to millions of consumers stating that the consumers had engaged in check fraud and threatening them with legal action if they did not provide payment information. The CFPB asserts that as a result, the debt collectors received millions of dollars in profits from the targeted consumers. The complaint also names certain payment processors used by the collectors to process payments from consumers. The CFPB obtained a preliminary injunction to halt the debt collection activities and freeze the assets of all defendants named in the lawsuit. Consistent with prior enforcement actions and guidance, the CFPB’s complaint in this matter underscores the importance of exercising thorough due diligence and ongoing oversight of third parties engaged to provide material services in connection with the offering or provision of a consumer financial product or service. For an in-depth analysis of the CFPB’s expanding scrutiny in this area, please see the recently published article Regulatory Blue Pencil: CFPB Guidance, Enforcement Actions Signal Expanding Focus on Vendor Management, authored by BuckleySandler Partner Elizabeth McGinn and Counsel Moorari Shah.