On April 24, the CFPB filed a memorandum in support of a consent motion to withdraw as a plaintiff in its enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The case involves the CFPB and the People of the State of New York, represented by New York State Attorney General (AG) Letitia James, as plaintiffs against a defendant auto financer. The Bureau is requesting the court to drop it as a plaintiff and to withdraw the appearances of its counsel, with the consent of the defendant and no objection from the State of New York.
As previously covered by InfoBytes, the CFPB and the AG filed a complaint against a Michigan-based auto finance company accused of allegedly misrepresenting the cost of credit and deceiving low-income consumers into taking out high-interest loans on used vehicles. (See also AG’s press release here.) The joint complaint alleged, among other things, that the defendant based the price of a loan (and then artificially inflated the principal amount) and the payment to the dealer on the projected amount that may be collected from the consumer during the life of the loan, all without considering the consumer’s ability to repay their loans. Because the CFPB is not the sole plaintiff, the case will continue with the New York AG as plaintiff.
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