During the third quarter of 2020, the CFPB has settled with several different mortgage companies in relationship to their advertising practices for VA-guaranteed loans. Referred to as a “sweeping effort” by the CFPB, several lenders throughout the country have been issued consent orders and fines related to their inappropriate advertising practices which often violated several laws including UDAAP and Regulation Z.

In early September, 2020, the CFPB released the Summer 2020 edition of their publication, Supervisory Highlights. This twice-a-year publication outlines the priorities of the CFPB and this specific issue includes findings from the CFPB from the period of September 2019 to December 2019.

On 9/4/2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a statement regarding their efforts to cease operations of an auto group. The court-approved settlement resolves charges that the dealerships deceived consumers and falsified information on vehicle financing applications. According to their statement, the FTC explained that the auto group “ falsified consumers’ income and down payment information on vehicle financing applications and misrepresented important financial terms in vehicle advertisements.”

On 8/31/2020, the CFPB issued a report that examines the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer credit. In their release, the CFPB explains that consumers have not experienced significant increases in delinquency or other negative credit outcomes despite the sharp increases in unemployment caused by the pandemic. In addition, the release explains that creditors and lenders increased payment assistance to borrowers where student loan and first-lien mortgage accounts had the largest increase in assistance in terms of magnitude, but increases in assistance on auto loan and credit card accounts were also substantial. Further more, the report found that credit card debt access was reduced by financial institutions, but the effects of this appear to be “small in magnitude.”