Daily Digest – February 24. CFPB Dings Citi; TransUnion Shares Data on Renters

CFPB DINGS NEXT BANK IN DEBT SALE CRUSADE

• Citigroup was hit with two separate actions yesterday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. First, the bank must pay $8 million to settle claims it sold credit card debt with inflated interest rates and failing to send payments made by consumers to debt buyers. Separately, the company must pay $11 million in fines and stop collecting on $34 million in credit card debt after it – and two collection agencies that worked on behalf of Citi – allegedly altered affidavits and the amount of debt owed.

RENTERS WITH PRIOR EVICTIONS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE LIKELY TO GET EVICTED AGAIN

• Renters who end up getting evicted from their rental units have nearly three times as many prior eviction or rental-related collection actions in their past, according to TransUnion.

CFPB ATTACKS FOR-PROFIT UNIVERSITY ACCREDITATION PROCESS

• The CFPB is not just looking at the student lending practices at for-profit universities; but the process through which those universities are accredited. Republicans are claiming this is another example of CFPB over-reach while the organization in charge of accreditation is fighting the CFPB in court.

PENNSYLVANIA TOWN CONSIDERS OUTSOURCING COLLECTIONS

• A Pennsylvania borough is considering hiring a third-party collection agency to collect more than $100,000 in unpaid utility bills.

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