LENDERS TO THE MILITARY

“Bureau Puts Companies On Notice After Defense Department Rules Take Effect”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sent letters this month to several companies that sell retail goods to military servicemembers, advising them to review their websites and other advertising for potentially misleading marketing and to review other practices related to payment by military allotment. Active-duty servicemembers are not permitted to use allotments to pay for personal property such as vehicles, appliances, and consumer electronics. The CFPB is concerned that companies that are still advertising repayment by way of military allotment may potentially be violating federal consumer financial protection laws.

“Companies that are still advertising repayment via military allotment may be violating the law,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Companies should give consumers accurate and reliable information so they can make the best decisions for their own financial situations. We will continue our work protecting servicemembers and promoting a fair and transparent marketplace for all consumers.”

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Sample CFPB letters mailed are here: Sample CFPB Letter

The military discretionary allotment system allows servicemembers to automatically direct a portion of their paycheck to financial institutions or people of their choosing. However, military personnel using the allotment system instead of other automatic payment options like ACH (Automated Clearing House) can end up losing out on certain legal protections.

To better protect servicemembers, the Department of Defense announced changes to the allotment system last year. The updated regulations, which took effect in January, prohibit new allotments to purchase, lease or rent personal property such as vehicles, appliances and consumer electronics. The regulations do allow allotments made for the purpose of savings, insurance premiums, mortgage or rent payments, support for dependents, or investments. Military retirees and Department of Defense civilian employees were not affected by the changes.

Offering servicemembers misleading information about payment options and allowing servicemembers to pay by allotment when prohibited by the Department of Defense regulations could violate the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s prohibition against unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices in consumer financial products or services. The Bureau will continue to look out for the interests of servicemembers and ensure compliance with all applicable federal consumer financial laws and regulations.

The letters advise the recipients that their advertisements may violate federal law, and that they should review their advertising and practices relating to military allotments. However, the Bureau’s letters are not a finding or ruling that the recipients have actually violated the law.

The CFPB has taken multiple actions to enforce consumer financial protection laws against entities whose businesses were largely premised on receiving payments from servicemembers, often through the military allotment system. In those actions, the CFPB has recovered over $100 million for thousands of consumers.

A sample letter is available here:http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201507_cfpb_sample-allotment-letter.pdf

Payday Loan Leads: The continuing saga of the CFPB, Selling Source, Operation Choke Point and Lead Generators.

By: Jer Ayler. “Even if we assume for purposes of argument that including in the Notification every consumer finance law and regulation imaginable as adequate notice of the “alleged violations,” by no stretch of the imagination does the Notification speak to the “nature of the conduct” which is under investigation for the alleged violation. Put simply, what is it you think we did wrong? Does it involve advertising? Handling of complaints? Advanced vetting or monitoring of customers (if such was ever required!)? Particularly given the absence of federal rules governing payday lenders, the absence of rules anywhere purporting to govern lead generators, and the great variety of rules in those states which do regulate payday lenders, if this investigation to date has not been a pure fishing expedition motivated by an intent to indirectly throttle payday lending through an attack on a lawful business perceived by CFPB and other federal and state departments and agencies to be a “choke point” for payday lending, plainly CFPB must have some knowledge of the nature of the conduct it believes to be unlawful.”

“This investigation is entirely focused on Selling Source. We are well aware that since the beginning of 2015 at the latest, CFPB has had a formal or informal “MoneyMutual Team,” which may include involvement by state agencies such as the New York Department of Financial Services and other federal department or agencies. We know CFPB previously agreed to cooperate with other federal departments and agencies in Operation Choke Point, targeting lawful businesses as a means of ‘choking off’ payday lending. The CIDs issued to date have not sought to develop information concerning any other person or entity other than Selling Source, and we question whether similar CIDs are going to any other lead generator. For the Notification of Purpose to suggest that this investigation is broader in scope than is actually the case is inappropriate, misleading and inadequate.

You may read the Motion to Set aside the CFPB’s CID in its entirety here: Petition

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