The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) yesterday announced a proposed settlement with Think Finance, LLC, formerly known as Think Finance, Inc., and six subsidiaries (collectively, the “Think Finance Entities”), to resolve the CFPB’s lawsuit, which the Bureau filed on November 15, 2017, according to a press release. The CFPB alleged that the Think Finance Entities engaged in unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts and practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act in connection with the illegal collection of loans that were void in whole or in part under state laws governing interest rate caps, the licensing of lenders, or both. The CFPB’s first amended complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in 2018, alleged that the Think Finance Entities operated as a common enterprise that affiliated with tribal lenders in the offering and collection of online installment loans and online lines of credit to consumers nationwide. The Think Finance Entities, the Bureau alleged, made deceptive demands and illegally took money from consumers’ bank accounts for debts that consumers did not actually owe because the loans were either partially or completely void under the law of 17 states. The CFPB also alleged that the Think Finance Entities provided substantial assistance to two debt collection companies that were also engaged in the illegal collection of loans. If entered by the court, the proposed stipulated final consent order, among other things, would prohibit the Think Finance Entities from offering or collecting on loans to consumers in any of the 17 states if the loan violates state lending laws and assisting others in engaging in that conduct. The proposed order would also impose a $1 civil money penalty for each of the seven Think Finance Entities.
