• Bank Debiting Practices.  The CFPB found that some banks had inaccurately represented that debits made through an online bill-pay service would occur on a given date, even though they might occur earlier than the stated date (for instance, if a payee only accepted a paper check).  In some instances, this caused consumers to suffer overdraft fees because there was insufficient money to cover the debit on the earlier date.

• Mortgage Servicing.  The CFPB found that some mortgage servicers had unlawfully charged consumers fees that were not authorized by their mortgage loans, failed to cancel private mortgage insurance when the loan-to-value ratio dipped below 80%, failing to exercise “reasonable diligence” in processing loss mitigation applications, and failed to provide necessary documentation to the successors-in-interest to borrowers who obtained a home equity conversion mortgage (a type of HUD-insured reverse mortgage).

The CFPB also noted that it had brought five public enforcement actions against payday lenders and other financial institutions relating to a variety of unlawful practices, including debiting consumers’ bank accounts without authorization, furnishing inaccurate information to credit reporting agencies, failing to make required disclosures to consumers, and improperly threatening to initiate debt collection actions.