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  • DOJ announces $3 million SCRA settlement with auto finance company

    Federal Issues

    On August 1, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $3 million settlement with a captive auto finance company, resolving allegations that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by repossessing 113 vehicles owned by SCRA-protected servicemembers without first obtaining court orders and failing to refund upfront capitalized cost reduction (CCR) amounts to servicemembers who lawfully terminated vehicle leases early under the SCRA. According to the DOJ’s complaint, when a servicemember terminated their lease early pursuant to the SCRA, the finance company retained the entire CCR amount even though the SCRA requires that it refund all lease amounts paid in advance for a period after the effective date of the termination. The settlement agreement covers all repossessions of servicemembers vehicles and leases terminated by servicemembers since January 2008, and requires the finance company to create an almost $3 million settlement fund to compensate affected servicemembers and pay the U.S. Treasury $62,000. Moreover, the agreement requires the finance company to review and update its SCRA policies and procedures to prevent future violations and to provide SCRA compliance training to specified employees.

    Federal Issues DOJ SCRA Servicemembers Department of Treasury

  • National bank settles alleged SCRA violations

    Courts

    Recently, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas granted a plaintiff’s motion for final approval of a class action settlement resolving allegations that a national bank violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act by incorrectly repossessing vehicles owned by certain servicemembers. The bank, which denied all claims and allegations of wrongdoing, entered into the settlement agreement to avoid further uncertainties and expenses. The approximately $5.1 million settlement fund will go to affected servicemembers who have not, as of the effective date, already accepted payments in accordance with settlement agreements reached between the bank and the DOJ and OCC in 2016. (Covered by InfoBytes here.)

    Courts Servicemembers SCRA Auto Finance

  • South Carolina enacts servicemembers civil relief act

    State Issues

    On April 26, the South Carolina governor signed H 3180 to enact the South Carolina Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which will “expand and supplement the rights, benefits, and protections of the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)” and provide that a violation of the SCRA is a violation of the state’s act. In particular, the Act expands federal SCRA’s definition of “military service” to include South Carolina guardsman who are on state active duty, subject to certain requirements. It also provides that a “dependent of a servicemember engaged in military service has the same rights and protections provided to a servicemember” under both the Act and the SCRA and expands contract termination rights for servicemembers receiving “military orders to relocate for a period of service of at least ninety days to a location that does not support the contract,” encompassing phone, internet, TV, and gym subscriptions. The Act took effect upon signature and is applicable to contracts executed on or after April 26.

    State Issues State Legislation Servicemembers SCRA

  • Department of Defense updating data-sharing agreement with Department of Education to preserve servicemember benefit

    Federal Issues

    On April 16, the Department of Defense (DoD) published a proposal in the Federal Register to amend its routine use policy to accommodate a new data-sharing agreement between DoD and the Department of Education (ED). The new agreement ensures that servicemembers with student loans under Part D, Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 receive the “no interest accrual benefit” on eligible loans during the period in which they received imminent danger or hostile fire pay. Through the proposal and the new agreement, ED will be able to access information in the Defense Manpower Data Center Data Base to identify servicemembers eligible for “no interest accrual benefit.” The proposal will take effect after the comment period ends on May 16 “unless comments are received which result in a contrary determination.”

    Federal Issues Student Lending Department of Defense Department of Education Servicemembers

  • CFPB releases 50-state servicemember complaint snapshot

    Consumer Finance

    On March 19, the CFPB released the “Complaint Snapshot: Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families 50 State Report,” which provides state-specific data on the nearly 34,000 complaints received from servicemembers, veterans, and their families in 2018 (which the CFPB collectively defines as, “servicemember”). Specifically, for each state, the snapshot provides (i) the total number of servicemember complaints handled in 2018 and the percentage change since 2017; (ii) distribution of complaints by product for both servicemembers and non-servicemembers; (iii) distribution of complaints by branch of service; and (iv) a visual representation of complaints by zip code. Notably, servicemember complaints increased by 12 percent from 2017 to 2018.  The states with the highest number of servicemember complaints include Texas, California, Florida, and Georgia. The Bureau has received over 133,000 complaints from servicemembers since 2011.

    See recent article by Buckley attorneys, "Takeaways from military complaints at the CFPB."

    Consumer Finance CFPB Servicemembers Consumer Complaints

  • DOJ announces $1.59 million settlement with real estate management company for alleged SCRA violations

    Federal Issues

    On March 15, the DOJ announced a $1.59 million settlement with a real estate management company resolving allegations that the company and its entities violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by obtaining unlawful court judgments and charging unlawful lease termination fees. According to the complaint, from 2006 to 2017, the company obtained at least 152 default judgments against 127 “SCRA-protected servicemembers” by failing to accurately disclose their military status in affidavits filed with the court. Additionally, the DOJ alleged that the company wrongfully withheld security deposits and imposed early lease termination fees on servicemembers who sought termination due to qualifying military orders under the SCRA. Under the terms of the settlement, the company will pay (i) nearly $1.5 million to compensate 127 servicemembers who had allegedly unlawful default judgments entered against them; (ii) nearly $35,000 to compensate 10 servicemembers who were charged early lease termination fees; and (iii) a civil money penalty of $62,000. The settlement also requires the company to develop policies and procedures related to SCRA lease terminations and default judgments, conduct SCRA compliance training for employees involved with lease issues, and request that major credit reporting agencies delete trade lines and negative credit information for the affected servicemembers.

    Federal Issues DOJ SCRA Servicemembers Military Lending Settlement Enforcement

  • DOJ proposes SCRA settlement for auto lender

    Federal Issues

    On March 6, the DOJ announced it reached a proposed $80,000 settlement with a California-based indirect auto lending company for allegedly repossessing servicemembers’ vehicles in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). As previously covered by InfoBytes, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against the company in March 2018, alleging that an investigation revealed the company failed to have policies or practices in place to verify borrowers’ military status before repossessing vehicles. As such, the DOJ argued that the defendant may have repossessed vehicles of other servicemembers without obtaining the necessary court orders or verifying military status. The investigation was triggered after an Army Private submitted a complaint about the company to the DOJ in 2016. The proposed consent order would require the company to pay a $50,000 civil penalty and issue $30,000 in compensation to a different Army Specialist, whose credit, according to the DOJ, was severely damaged as a result of a repossession by the company. In addition, the company would be required to develop policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the SCRA in the future. The consent order has not yet been approved by the court.

    Federal Issues DOJ Consumer Finance Servicemembers SCRA Repossession Settlement

  • CFPB analyzes first-time homebuying data for servicemembers

    Lending

    On March 1, the CFPB released its latest Quarterly Consumer Credit Trends report titled, “Mortgages to First-time Homebuying Servicemembers,” which analyzes mortgages made to first-time homebuying active duty servicemembers and veterans (collectively defined as “servicemembers”). The report, using data from the Bureau’s Consumer Credit Panel (CCP) supplemented with data on military service, offers information on the mortgage choices and mortgage performance outcomes of servicemembers who bought homes between 2006 and 2016. Key findings include:

    • The share of first-time homebuying servicemembers using the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) guaranteed home loan program significantly increased, from 30 percent before 2007 to 63 percent in 2009. By 2016, 78 percent of servicemembers relied on a VA mortgage for their first home loan.
    • Conventional mortgages, which accounted for approximately 60 percent of loans among first-time homebuying servicemembers in 2006 and 2007, declined to 13 percent by 2016. During this period, the use of conventional mortgages among non-servicemembers also decreased, as the use of FHA and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) increased.
    • In 2016, the median servicemember first-time homebuyer VA loan amount was $212,000, increasing from $156,000 in 2006.
    • Early delinquency rates for nonprime servicemember first-time VA-loan borrowers decreased from an average of 5 percent to 7 percent in 2006 and 2007 to slightly above 3 percent in 2016. Notably, early delinquency rates were lower for active duty VA-loan borrowers than for veteran VA-loan borrowers.

    Lending CFPB Military Lending Servicemembers Mortgages Department of Veterans Affairs FHA Department of Agriculture

  • FTC issues annual summary of ECOA activity to CFPB

    Federal Issues

    On February 26, the FTC announced it had recently provided the CFPB with its annual summary of work on ECOA-related policy issues including the following FTC research and policy development initiatives:

    • The FTC held a series of public hearings on competition and consumer protection in the 21st century. Session seven specifically addressed issues related to the use of algorithms, artificial intelligence, and predictive analytics. Panelists addressed how fairness, bias, and discrimination may impact the use of such technologies and debated whether current legal protections such as ECOA sufficiently cover these issues.
    • The FTC continued its qualitative study of consumer experiences when buying and selling automobiles at dealerships, which the agency believes will help focus initiatives, such as educating consumers about the purchase and financing process and providing business education to promote compliance with the FTC Act and ECOA.
    • The FTC’s Military Task Force, which consists of a cross-section of agency representatives, continued to work on military consumer protection issues. Workshops were conducted to examine financial issues and scams targeting military consumers, including servicemembers and veterans. In addition, the FTC participated in a training program for servicemembers and their families to discuss ECOA and Regulation B protections.
    • The FTC maintained its membership in the Interagency Task Force on Fair Lending, along with the CFPB, DOJ, HUD, and the federal banking regulatory agencies, and participated in the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

    Concerning fair lending, the FTC stated that it provided education on several topics, including those related to credit transactions that fall under Regulation B.

    Federal Issues FTC CFPB ECOA FTC Act Servicemembers Regulation B Consumer Protection

  • DOJ settles with mortgage company for alleged SCRA violations

    Federal Issues

    On February 7, the DOJ announced a $750,000 settlement with a New Jersey-based mortgage company resolving allegations that the company violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by foreclosing on homes owned by servicemembers without first obtaining the required court orders. The complaint, which was filed on the same day as the settlement, alleges that between 2010 and 2012 the company foreclosed on six homes of SCRA-protected servicemembers. Under the SCRA, lenders must obtain a court order before foreclosing on a servicemember’s home during, or within one year after, active military service, provided that the mortgage originated before the servicemember’s period of military service. The settlement requires the company to, among other things, (i) pay $125,000 to each affected servicemember; (ii) provide staff training to prevent unlawful foreclosures in the future; and (iii) notify the DOJ of future SCRA complaints.

    Federal Issues DOJ Foreclosure Mortgages Servicemembers Settlement SCRA

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