Penalty Amount
$142,500,000
Consumers Affected
416,000
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced a $1.85 billion multistate settlement with student loan servicer Navient for unfair and deceptive servicing practices. Navient steered borrowers into costly forbearances and originated predatory loans, resulting in debt relief for over 66,000 borrowers and restitution for 350,000 federal loan borrowers. The settlement includes a $142.5 million payment to attorneys general and conduct reforms to improve servicing practices.
Navient must pay $142.5 million to the attorneys general, cancel $1.7 billion in private student loan debt for over 66,000 borrowers, provide approximately $260 restitution payments to 350,000 federal loan borrowers, implement conduct reforms including training specialists and explaining income-driven repayment options, and notify borrowers about the settlement and Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver.
In-house legal teams should review all student loan servicing agreements and loan origination contracts with Navient or similar servicers. Focus on clauses governing repayment options (especially income-driven repayment plans), forbearance procedures, disclosures to borrowers, and prohibitions against steering borrowers into more costly products. Required changes may include mandating clear, prominent disclosure of all available repayment options, prohibiting incentives for steering borrowers to forbearances over income-driven plans, implementing robust oversight of servicing practices, and ensuring accurate application of payments and credits.
Entity
Navient
Industry
Financial ServicesOfficial Press Release
https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2022-press-releases/ag-tong-announces-settlement-with-student-loan-servicer-navient
navient cjfinal 01132022.pdf?rev=b01039889cfc4c6191678fe315c
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/ag/press_releases/2021/navient-cjfinal-01132022.pdf?rev=b01039889cfc4c6191678fe315cbce0f&hash=0869DBDEBEC8758CDD521D615DD46F0E
Connecticut Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://portal.ct.gov/AG/Privacy/Privacy-Resources
$2.0M
Attorney General Tong and a coalition of four other states and the FTC sued Zillow and Redfin after Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to shut down its multifamily rental advertising business and transfer clients to Zillow. The settlement requires the companies to restore competition, with Redfin rebuilding its apartment advertising business, and pay $2 million to the coalition.
Attorney General William Tong sent a letter to the Connecticut Insurance Department urging rejection of double-digit rate increases sought by Anthem, ConnectiCare, and UnitedHealthcare for individual and small group health insurance plans covering about 220,000 people. The letter argues the rates exceed inflationary measures and criticizes the carriers for failing to control costs and for poor claims system management, particularly ConnectiCare's transition to Molina Healthcare.
$275K
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced a $275,000 settlement with TaxAct, an online tax preparation company, over allegations that between January 2018 and December 2022, TaxAct improperly disclosed detailed customer financial information to Meta and Google through third-party tracking technologies without notifying taxpayers. The settlement requires TaxAct to pay $275,000 and implement new third-party tracking compliance measures, including a review committee, written policies, a tag monitoring system, and two independent third-party audits.
$4.0M
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and the Federal Trade Commission announced a $4 million settlement with Manchester City Nissan (Chase Nissan LLC) resolving allegations that the dealership double-charged for 'certified pre-owned' vehicles and collected unauthorized junk fees. The settlement requires payment for consumer redress, prohibits misrepresentations, mandates clear disclosure of the maximum total price, and requires express informed consent for all charges.
Attorney General Tong and a coalition of 21 attorneys general and Pennsylvania filed lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Transportation, FMCSA, and DHS to block demands for the personal information of 17 million CDL drivers. The lawsuits allege violations of federal privacy laws and the Administrative Procedure Act, and seek an emergency order to prevent the data transfer.
Attorney General William Tong and a coalition of 10 attorneys general filed a lawsuit challenging a new OCC rule that preempts state laws requiring national banks to pay interest on homeowners' mortgage escrow accounts. The lawsuit argues the OCC ignored federal court decisions and bypassed safeguards, and seeks to block the rule.