The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered TD Bank to pay $7.76 million to tens of thousands of victims of the bank's illegal conduct.
In a statement released Wednesday, the CFPB alleges that the bank repeatedly provided inaccurate and negative information about its customers to consumer reporting agencies over the years.
The information included “systematic inaccuracies regarding credit card delinquencies and bankruptcies,” the agency said.
The CFPB has ordered TD Bank to pay a civil penalty of $20 million, in addition to paying approximately $8 million to its own customers.
“The CFPB's investigation found that TD Bank illegally threatened customers by putting false information on their consumer reports and then rarely corrected it,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “TD Bank's management was clearly more concerned with growth and expanding its empire through mergers than it was with treating customers fairly and following the law. Regulators will have to pay close attention to ensure TD Bank changes course.”
The agency said these types of reports, which include credit reports, employment screening reports, tenancy screening reports and other background reports, are often used by financial institutions, employers, landlords and others when deciding whether to offer credit, housing or employment to consumers.
According to the CFPB, the inaccurate information shared by TD Bank related to credit cards and bank deposit accounts, including accounts that TD Bank knew or suspected to have been opened fraudulently.
The CFPB said that after the banks realized they had made errors in their reporting to consumer credit reporting agencies, they took a long time to correct many of the errors.
Asked for comment, TD Bank responded in a statement that the bank had already “implemented remedial measures” to address “these issues” prior to the settlement with the CFPB.
“Long before this settlement, TD recognized these issues and has voluntarily and proactively implemented improvements to our supply and dispute handling practices…” the statement reads in part.
NBC10 Responds believes this is a lesson for everyone to check their credit reports regularly.
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