When opening a checking account, a bank will review a customer’s past banking history supplied from their previous financial institution. JPMorgan Chase allegedly failed to ensure this information was accurate and often left customers in the dark about why their applications were denied or who to contact to dispute these findings. For this, the company will pay a $4.6 million fine. [More]
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Bank Of America To Pay $2M Over Calls Recorded Without Customer Consent
By 6.14.17
Bank of America has agreed to pay $2 million to settle allegations that it violated California law by failing to alert some customers that their phone calls to the bank were being recorded. [More]
Kawasaki To Pay $5.2M To Resolve Allegations It Didn’t Properly Report Defects, Injuries Related To Recall
By 6.2.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Under federal law, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are required to immediately report information regarding possible safety defects to the Consumer Product Safety Commission within 24 hours of obtaining reasonable supporting evidence. Kawasaki allegedly failed to do this with regard to defects in thousands of eventually recalled recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs) and now the company has agreed to pay a $5.2 million penalty. [More]
Former MoneyGram Executive To Pay Record Personal Fine To Settle Money Laundering Accusations
By 5.5.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
The former compliance officer for money transfer company MoneyGram must pay $250,000 — the largest such fine imposed — to settle allegations that he personally failed to stop consumers from becoming victims of fraud. [More]
Auto Lender Fined Another $1.25M For Failing To Issue Refunds To Servicemembers Threatened By Debt Collectors
By 4.26.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
An Ohio-based auto lender that has already been penalized for $3.28 million for using aggressive debt collection tactics against members of the armed forces is once again in hot water with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for failing to issue refunds to the servicemembers that were harassed. [More]
Santander Bank To Pay $10M Fine Over Alleged Illegal Overdraft Practices
By 7.14.16
Santander Bank has agreed to pay $10 million to settle federal regulatory allegations that it illegally charged overdraft fees to customers who didn’t affirmatively opt in to the bank’s overdraft policies.
[More]
Debt Collection Lawsuit Mill Hit With $2.5M Penalty
By 4.25.16
A New Jersey-based law firm that handed out hundreds of thousands of debt-collection lawsuits based on false or nonexistent information must — along with an associated debt buyer — pay $2.5 million in penalties to settle federal accusations that they were operating a lawsuit mill in violation of the law. [More]
Bed Bath & Beyond, JCPenney, Others To Pay $1.3M For Trying To Pass Off Rayon As “Bamboo”
By 12.9.15
Four national retailers will be paying a hefty tab at the register after federal regulators say they continued to deceptively mislabel rayon products as “bamboo,” despite being warned five years ago that this practice violated the law. [More]
Nation’s Biggest Employment Background Screeners Must Pay $13M Over Inaccurate Reports
By 10.29.15
Before offering a prospective employee a job, many companies will first perform a background check. As with credit reports, any inaccuracies in these transcripts can affect an applicant’s eligibility for employment. To that end, federal regulators have ordered two of the country’s largest employment background screening report providers to pay $13 million in penalties and refunds for providing inaccurate information. [More]
Sprint To Pay $2.95M Over Claims It Violated The Fair Credit Reporting Act
By 10.21.15
Under the Federal Trade Commission’s Fair Credit Reporting Act, companies are required to inform consumers when they are offered services with less favorable terms than those offered to consumers with better credit standing. That apparently wasn’t the case for Sprint. [More]
American Airlines Fined $20K For Failing To Adequately Compensate Bumped Passengers
By 9.17.15
If you get bumped from a flight because the airline overbooked the plane, you usually get some sort of compensation — money or vouchers for future flights — in exchange for having to change your travel plans. But federal regulators say American Airlines screwed up when it bumped nearly a dozen passengers from a Miami-to-London flight and failed to tell them why or offer them anything for their troubles. [More]
Time Warner Cable Must Pay Nearly $230,000 For 153 Robocalls To The Wrong Person
By 7.8.15
We can all agree that automated robocalls are an annoying interruption. But you know what’s worse? Receiving those automated calls meant for someone else, telling the company to place you on the Do Not Call list and then continuing to receive a total of 153 prerecorded messages. [More]
CFPB: Michigan Bank Must Pay $37.5M For Failure To Provide Consumers With Relief From Foreclosure
By 9.29.14
Consumers facing the prospect of losing their homes have few avenues of recourse and when even one of those options is taken away, the results can be devastating. That’s just one reason why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced action – to the tune of a $37.5 million – against a Michigan bank for its illegal conduct in blocking borrowers’ attempts to save their homes. [More]
Over Your Credit Limit? Get Ready For Higher Interest Rates!
By 4.10.08
Next time you brush past your credit limit you may get hit with more than a hefty over-the-limit fee. The Red Tape Chronicles reports that credit card companies are starting to slap exuberant spenders with penalty interest rates. Compounding the danger to consumers, creditors are simultaneously rushing to slash credit limits.
