The Bureau’s September 8 complaint, filed in federal district court in the Southern District of California, specifically alleged that since September 2015, Encore and its subsidiaries violated the consent order by suing consumers without possessing required documentation, using law firms and an internal legal department to engage in collection efforts without providing required disclosures, and failing to provide consumers with required loan documentation after consumers requested it. The Bureau also alleged that the companies violated the consent order, the CFPA, and the FDCPA by suing consumers to collect debts even though the statutes of limitations had run on those debts and violated the consent order by attempting to collect on debts for which the statutes of limitations had run without providing required disclosures. The Bureau further alleged that the companies violated the CFPA by failing to disclose possible international-transaction fees to consumers, thereby effectively denying consumers an opportunity to make informed choices of their preferred payment methods. The Bureau also alleged that each violation of the consent order constitutes a violation of the CFPA.

If entered by the court, the stipulated final judgment and order will require Encore and its subsidiaries to pay $79,308.81 in redress to consumers and a $15 million civil money penalty. The settlement will also require Encore and its subsidiaries to make various material disclosures to consumers, refrain from the collection of time-barred debt absent certain disclosures to consumers, and abide by certain conduct provisions in the 2015 consent order for five more years.

A copy of the proposed stipulated final judgment and order is available at: https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_encore-capital-group-et-al_proposed-stipulated-final-judgment-and-order_2020-10.pdf