The CFPB on Tuesday took two separate actions against Citibank forillegal debt sales and debt collection practices. In the firstaction, the CFPB ordered Citibank to provide nearly $5 million inconsumer relief and pay a $3 million penalty for selling creditcard debt with inflated interest rates and for failing to forwardconsumer payments promptly to debt buyers.

The second action is against both Citibank and two debtcollection law firms it used that, according to the CFPB, falsifiedcourt documents filed in debt collection cases in New Jersey statecourts. The CFPB ordered Citibank and the law firms to comply witha court order that Citibank refund $11 million to consumers andforgo collecting about $34 million from nearly 7,000 consumers.

“Citibank sent inaccurate information to buyers when it sold offcredit card debt and it also used law firms that altered courtdocuments,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said. “Today's actionprovides redress to consumers who were victimized by slipshodpractices as part of our ongoing work to fight abuses in the debtcollection market.”