CFPB takes action to stop illegal junk fees in mortgage servicing

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has published an edition of Supervisory Highlights describing the agency’s actions to combat junk fees charged by mortgage servicers, as well as other illegal practices. CFPB examinations found servicers charging illegal junk fees, such as prohibited property inspection fees; sending deceptive notices to homeowners; and violating loss mitigation rules that help struggling borrowers stay in their homes. In response to the CFPB’s findings, financial institutions refunded junk fees to borrowers and stopped their illegal practices.

The mortgage servicing examination work builds on prior CFPB exam work combatting junk fees in the mortgage servicing and other consumer financial markets. In October of last year, the CFPB announced that its examination work from February to August of 2023 resulted in $140 million refunded to consumers for unlawful junk fees in the areas of bank account deposits, auto loan servicing, and international money transfers. Since that time, the CFPB’s supervision junk fee work has resulted in more than $120 million in additional junk fee refunds in the area of bank account deposits.

Read the full CFPB press release here.