The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank to pay $7.76 million to tens of thousands of victims of the bank’s illegal actions.
In a statement released Wednesday, the CFPB claims for years, the bank repeatedly shared inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The information, the agency said, included "systemic errors about credit card delinquencies and bankruptcies."
In addition to having to pay nearly $8 million to its own customers, the CFPB is ordering TD Bank to pay a $20 million civil money penalty.
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“The CFPB’s investigation found that TD Bank illegally threatened the consumer reports of its customers with fraudulent information and then barely lifted a finger to fix it,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in a statement. “Rather than treating its customers fairly and following the law, TD Bank’s management clearly cared more about growth and expanding its empire through mergers. Regulators will need to focus major attention on TD Bank to change its course.”
The agency said that these kinds of reports -- including credit reports, employment screening reports, tenant screening reports, and other background reports -- are often used by financial institutions, employers, and landlords, among others, to decide whether to extend credit, housing, or employment to a consumer.
The inaccurate information shared by TD Bank related to credit card and bank deposit accounts, including accounts TD Bank knew or suspected were fraudulently opened, the CFPB said.
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After the bank realized it was botching its reporting to consumer reporting companies, it took far too long to correct many of its errors, according to the CFPB.
Contacted for comment, TD Bank responded with a statement that read, before the settlement with the CFPB, the bank had already "implemented enhancements" to address "these matters."
"Long before this settlement, TD self-identified these matters and voluntarily and proactively implemented enhancements to our furnishing and dispute handling practices..." the statement read, in part.
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