Last month, the CFPB released new Supervisory Highlights identifying examinations findings in the areas of auto servicing, consumer reporting, credit card account management, debt collection, deposits, mortgage origination, mortgage servicing and payday lending completed between January 1, 2022, and June 31, 2022. Among other highlights, the findings including the following:

• Auto Servicing: Examiners found servicers engaged in deceptive acts or practices by: (i) failing to ensure consumers who paid off their loans early received refunds for fees related to add-on products; (ii) misrepresenting to consumers that their modifications were preliminarily approved pending a “good faith” payment; (iii) activating starter interrupt devices in vehicles when consumers were not past due on payment; and (iv) making misrepresentations during collections calls that delinquent consumers driver’s licenses and tags would be suspended if they did not make a prompt payment to the servicer.

• Consumer Reporting: Examiners found that consumer reporting agenices failed to report the outcome of their reviews of complaints about inaccuracies on consumer credit reports to the CFPB. Additionally, examiners have continued to find that furnishers are violating accuracy obligations under the FCRA by inaccurately reporting information despite actual knowledge of errors.

• Credit Card Account Management: Examiners identified violations of Regulation Z related to billing error resolution, including instances where creditors failed to (i) timely resolve disputes after receiving a billing error notice; (ii) conduct reasonable investigations into billing error notices; and (iii) provide explanations to consumers after determining that no billing error occurred.

• Debt Collection: Examinations of larger debt collectors identified violations of the FDCPA, including instances of participants engaging in harassing, oppressing, or abusive conduct. Examiners also found multiple instances of debt collectors violating the FDCPA by communicating with a person other than the consumer about consumer debt, including persons that had a name similar or identical to that of the consumer.

Putting It Into Practice: This report confirms the CFPB’s heightened scrutiny of participants in such markets as auto servicing, credit reporting, and debt collection, among others. As the CFPB conducts future examinations, the issues identified in the latest Supervisory Highlights are likely to be a consistent theme in future CFPB enforcement actions.