A U.S. district court in California has temporarily halted an allegedly deceptive mortgage assistance relief operation by National Amendment Assistance, which claimed it can provide mortgage relief assistance under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES). FTC alleged that the mortgage assistance relief operator and related entities allegedly misled consumers into paying unlawful upfront…

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California AG Rob Bonta announced a $4.6 million settlement with California mortgage servicer Select Portfolio Servicing (SPS). The suit alleges that the company violated state and federal mortgage and debt collection laws during the COVID-19 pandemic. The settlement requires SPS to pay $1.6 million in civil penalties and $3 million in consumer relief. Additionally, the…

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Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti reached an $11.1 million settlement with Mariner Finance resolving allegations that the company violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act and other consumer protection laws through deceptive lending practices and hidden add-on products. As previously reported, Tennessee was part of a bipartisan coalition of AGs that sued Mariner over its lending practices,…

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New York AG Letitia James reached a $5 million settlement with cryptocurrency platform Uphold HQ Inc. for allegedly misleading investors while promoting CredEarn, a crypto investment product from now-collapsed Cred LLC, in violation of the Martin Act and Executive Law § 63(12). According to the AG’s office, Uphold promoted CredEarn as a safe, reliable savings…

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A coalition of 23 Republican AGs sent a letter to Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service, and S&P Global Ratings questioning whether the credit rating agencies’ ESG policies violate federal securities laws, state consumer protection laws, and antitrust laws. In the letter, the AGs allege that the ratings agencies downgraded fossil-fuel companies and sectors based on…

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