Feb 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. consumer financial watchdog
agency on Monday said it had permanently barred California
mortgage broker RMK Financial Corp. from the mortgage lending
industry, accusing it of repeat violations against military
personnel and their families.
The announcement came the same day the U.S. Supreme Court
agreed to hear a case that the Biden administration has said
threatens the very survival of the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau (CFPB), which was created nearly 12 years ago after the
global financial crisis but has faced repeated attacks in the
courts.
Despite a 2015 order, the private non-bank lender, which
does business as Majestic Home Loan, continued to lie to
military families by claiming its home loans were endorsed by
government agencies, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a
statement.
"Our action reflects our commitment to weed out repeat
offenders, and we are shutting down this outfit for good," he
said.
Majestic Home Loan did not immediately respond to a request
for comment on the action, which also involved a $1 million
penalty. The CFPB order said the company had neither admitted or
denied the allegation.
According to the CFPB, Majestic Home Loan "tricked" military
families by falsely claiming government affiliation while also
deceiving borrowers about interest rates.
It marked the second time in a week that the CFPB had taken
action against a non-bank lender accused of repeat offenses
against military personnel and their families.
The agency on Thursday announced a $10 million fine against
the Georgia title lender TitleMax for allegedly making unlawful
loans to military personnel and charging illegally high interest
rates. The company denied those allegations.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal against
an October ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
which held that the CFPB's funding, which is provided not by
congressional appropriation but by the Federal Reserve, was
unconstitutional.
(Reporting by Douglas Gillison; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
