On July 14, 2022, the OCC assessed a $125 million civil money penalty against Bank of America, N.A., for violations of law and unsafe or unsound practices relating to the bank’s administration of a prepaid card program to distribute unemployment insurance and other public benefit payments. The OCC also ordered the bank to provide remediation to consumers harmed by the bank’s practices and violations of law.

On July 14, 2022, the CFPB fined Bank of America $100 million for botching the disbursement of state unemployment benefits at the height of the pandemic. According to the CFPB’s press release, Bank of America automatically and unlawfully froze people’s accounts with a faulty fraud detection program, and then gave them little recourse when there was, in fact, no fraud. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is also fining the bank $125 million in a separate order.

On March 16, 2022, the CFPB announced changes to its supervisory operations to better protect families and communities from illegal discrimination, including in situations where fair lending laws may not apply. According to the CFPB, the Bureau will closely examine discriminatory practices that violates the rules against unfair practices. Specifically, the CFPB will focus on financial institutions’ decision-making in advertising, pricing, and other areas to ensure that companies are appropriately testing for and eliminating illegal discrimination.

On February 28, 2022, the CFPB issued a compliance bulletin regarding repossession of vehicles, and the potential for violations of the Dodd-Frank Act’s prohibition on engaging in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices when repossessing vehicles. This is after the CFPB observed, during its examinations and enforcement actions, illegal seizure of cars, sloppy record keeping, unreliable balance statements, and ransom for personal property.

On 3/11/21, the CFPB announced that it is rescinding a policy statement that was just over a year old. Specifically, the CFPB has rescinded its January 24, 2020 policy statement titled “Statement of Policy Regarding Prohibition on Abusive Acts or Practices.” In their release, the CFPB explains that they intend to exercise its supervisory and enforcement authority consistent with the full scope of its statutory authority under the Dodd-Frank Act and these changes help to better protect consumers and the marketplace from abusive acts or practices.

On 10/13/2020, the CFPB issued a consent order against Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation for a number of issues relating to debt collection and repossession practices. In their release, the CFPB found that Nissan:

• wrongfully repossessed vehicles;

• kept personal property in consumers’ repossessed vehicles until consumers paid a storage fee;

• deprived consumers paying by phone of the ability to select payment options with significantly lower fees; and,

• in its loan extension agreements, made a deceptive statement that appeared to limit consumers’ bankruptcy protections.

In their release, the CFPB asserts that these practices resulted in UDAAP violations and the consent order requires Nissan to provide up to $1 million of cash redress to affected consumers, credit any outstanding account charges associated with wrongful reposession, and to pay a CMP of $4 million.

On 8/20/2020, the CFPB issued a settlement with TD Bank, N.A. regarding the marketing and sale of its overdraft program, known as Debit Card Advance (DCA), as well as violations of the FCRA. The consent order requires restitution to about 1.42 million consumers totaling $97 million as well as a $25 million civil money penalty.