On January 17, the CFPB issued a consent order and stipulation against an auto finance company for alleged violations of the FCRA, Regulation V and the CFPA. The Bureau alleged that, from 2019 through 2024, the company furnished inaccurate or incomplete information to CRAs that affected the credit reports of approximately 300,000 people, inaccurately reported consumers as delinquent during the Covid-19 Pandemic, failed to complete direct and indirect dispute investigations, failed to report results in a timely manner, failed to implement written policies and procedures, and failed to conduct reasonable investigations. The Bureau alleged that these alleged violations of the FCRA and Regulation V also violated the CFPA.
Coding issues allegedly led to incorrect reporting of account statuses and balances, such as reporting accounts as delinquent with zero-dollar balances or failing to report charge-off amounts accurately. The Bureau alleged that these issues identified in April 2021 remained unresolved for years. During the CARES Act period from February 2020 to May 2021, the company allegedly agreed to defer payments for nearly 85,000 accounts but inaccurately reported the accounts as delinquent instead of current, violating the FCRA.
The company neither admitted nor denied the findings but consented to the order to avoid further litigation. As part of the resolution, the company was ordered to pay $10.3 million in consumer redress and a $2.5 million civil money penalty to the CFPB’s victims relief fund.
