CFPB Orders TD Bank to Pay $28 Million For Misleading Consumer Reporting Agencies

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered TD Bank to pay about $28 million in redress and penalties, saying the bank provided consumer reporting agencies with information about its customers that was inaccurate and negative.

A CFPB investigation determined that TD Bank repeatedly gave these agencies inaccurate information, gave them information it knew or suspected was fraudulent, and failed to conduct proper investigations when customers or consumer reporting agencies submitted disputes, the CFPB said in a Wednesday (Sept. 11) press release.

“The CFPB’s investigation found that TD Bank illegally threatened the consumer reports of its customers with fraudulent information and then barely lifted a finger to fix it,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in the release. “Rather than treating its customers fairly and following the law, TD Bank’s management clearly cared more about growth and expanding its empire through mergers.”

“Regulators will need to focus major attention on TD Bank to change its course,” Chopra added.

Reached by PYMNTS, TD Bank provided a statement saying, “Long before this settlement, TD self-identified these matters and voluntarily and proactively implemented enhancements to our furnishing and dispute handling practices. TD cooperated fully to resolve this matter and is committed to continuing to deliver on its responsibilities to its customers.”

The CFPB said in its press release that TD Bank repeatedly gave inaccurate account information to consumer reporting companies over a period of “several years,” that it knew of many of these inaccuracies for more than a year before fixing them, and that these actions affected “tens of thousands” of customers.

The amount the CFPB ordered TD Bank to pay includes $7.76 million in redress to consumers and a $20 million penalty, according to the release.

This news comes about four years after the CFPB ordered TD Bank to pay some $122 million to settle a case involving allegedly illegal overdraft practices.

In that case, which was settled in August 2020, the CFPB alleged that TD Bank misled customers signing up for the Debit Card Advance (DCA) program for overdraft protection by failing to fully obtain their consent to do so and then charging them fees anyway.