Tuesday, October 11, 2016

CFPB Fines Navy FCU $28.5 Million for Improper Debt Collection Practices

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took action against Navy Federal Credit Union (Vienna, VA) for making false threats about debt collection to its members, which included active-duty military, retired servicemembers, and their families.

The CFPB found that Navy Federal Credit Union deceived consumers to get them to pay delinquent accounts. The credit union falsely threatened severe actions when, in fact, it seldom took such actions or did not have authorization to take them. The credit union also cut off members’ electronic access to their accounts and bank cards if they did not pay overdue loans.

The CFPB found that hundreds of thousands of consumers were affected by these practices, which occurred between January 2013 and July 2015.

Navy Federal Credit Union will pay roughly $23 million in redress to victims along with a civil money penalty of $5.5 million.

In addition, the credit union must create a comprehensive plan to address how it communicates with its members about overdue debt. This includes refraining from any misleading, false, or unsubstantiated threats to contact a consumer’s commanding officer, threats to initiate legal action, or misrepresentations about the credit consequences of falling behind on a Navy Federal Credit Union loan.

Furthermore, Navy Federal Credit Union cannot block its members from accessing all their accounts if they are delinquent on one or more accounts. The credit union must implement proper procedures for electronic account restrictions.

Read the enforcement order.

No comments:

Post a Comment

 

The content is provided for educational purposes only, with the understanding that neither the authors, contributors, nor the publishers of this site are engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other expert or professional services. If legal or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Comments appearing in response to articles appearing on this site do not necessarily reflect the views of the ABA. ABA makes no representations regarding the truth or accuracy of commentary or opinions that may be posted in response to the articles that appear on this website.

The inclusion herein of any link to a website, either in the text of an article or in a comment, does not denote any approval, sponsorship, or endorsement by the ABA, and ABA is not responsible for the content or opinions expressed on those linked websites or related commentary. This content is not licensed to third parties sites and is not affiliated with any third party site. Any reference to the author or this content on any third party site on the Internet is not authorized by the ABA.

It is the policy of the American Bankers Association to comply fully with all antitrust laws. Certain discussions should be considered off-limits, including those that contain competitively sensitive data such as price and cost information, or statements that could be construed as reflecting an attempt or desire to control or influence a particular market or markets. Future pricing or other prospective competitive information should never be shared.