CFPB

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week slapped Wells Fargo Bank with a $3.6 million penalty over faults in its student loan servicing practices.

The bureau said that Wells Fargo failed to provide borrowers with important payment information, charged consumers illegal fees and failed to update inaccurate credit report information. In addition to the civil penalty it must pay to the CFPB, Wells Fargo was also ordered to provide $410,000 in relief to its borrowers.

“Wells Fargo hit borrowers with illegal fees and deprived others of critical information needed to effectively manage their student loan accounts,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a statement announcing the penalty. “Consumers should be able to rely on their servicer to process and credit payments correctly and to provide accurate and timely information and we will continue our work to improve the student loan servicing market.”

In its statement, the bureau said the company violated the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s prohibitions against unfair and deceptive acts and practices, as well as the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

The agency said that Wells Fargo processed payments in a way that maximized fees, misrepresented the value of making partial payments, charged illegal late fees and failed to update and correct inaccurate information reported to credit reporting companies.

In addition to the fines levied upon Wells Fargo, the bank was ordered to improve its student loan servicing practices and improved its consumer billing disclosures.

CFPB Fines Wells Fargo $3.6M Over Student Loan Servicing Practices

by Banker & Tradesman time to read: 1 min
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