The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) yesterday took action against an online lead aggregator for steering consumers toward lenders who offered illegal or unlicensed loans that were void in the consumer’s state, according to a press release. Zero Parallel, LLC sold consumers’ payday and installment loan applications to lenders it knew were likely to make void loans that the lenders had no legal right to collect. The CFPB also submitted a proposed order in a separate case that would resolve a pending lawsuit against Zero Parallel’s owner, Davit Gasparyan, for engaging in similarly illegal conduct at his prior company, T3Leads. The CFPB ordered Zero Parallel to end its illegal conduct and pay a $100,000 penalty. The proposed order against Gasparyan would prohibit him from engaging in the same abusive practice and require him to pay a $250,000 penalty.
