WASHINGTON—The BCFP has ordered an Alabama-based payday lender to return $500,000 to borrowers who were overcharged.
It’s a fine that people familiar with the matter said was only a third of what the prior Obama-era head of the agency had sought, Reuters reported.
The settlement between Triton Management Group Inc and the BCFP was signed by BCFP Acting Director Mick Mulvaney.
Mulvaney's predecessor, Richard Cordray, a Democrat who was appointed by President Barack Obama, had decided Triton's customers were owed about $1.5 million and he wanted that money returned, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter, noted Reuters.
The consent order, which the CFPB posted on its website, said the agency entered a judgment of $1.5 million against Triton, but the actual payback to borrowers was reduced to $500,000 because Triton did not have the funds.
Happy With Settlement
An attorney for Triton, Allen Denson, said the lender was happy with the settlement that "put the Bureau's investigation behind it," Reuters reported.
The settlement is at least the third time that Mulvaney has dropped or reduced consumer payouts from cases under his review, Reuters noted.
Triton Management, which operates about 100 storefront lending offices across the South, routinely overcharged borrowers in Mississippi, the BCFP said.