The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal TradeCommission Monday handed down more than 30 warning letters tomortgage lenders, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, homebuilders and others, warning them to clean up misleading advertisementstargeted toward veterans and seniors. The recipients are accused ofviolating the 2011 Mortgage Acts and Practices Advertising Rule,which prohibits misleading claims concerning governmentaffiliation, interest rates, fees, costs, payments associated withthe loan, and the amount of cash or credit available to theconsumer.
|In addition, the CFPB also announced it has opened formalinvestigations into six companies that may have committed moreserious violations of the law.
|“Misrepresentations in mortgage products can deprive consumersof important information while making one of the biggest financialdecisions of their lives,” said CFPB Director RichardCordray. “Baiting consumers with false ads to buy intomortgage products would be illegal. We will conduct a fair andrigorous investigation into these issues and will take appropriateaction for any violations we find.”
|The two regulators identified the possible violations during ajoint sweep of about 800 randomly selected mortgage-related adsacross the country, including ads for mortgage loans, refinancing,and reverse mortgages. The agencies looked at public-facing ads innewspapers, on the Internet, and from mail solicitations; some cameto the attention of the CFPB and the FTC from consumers whocomplained about them.
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