Thirteen state attorneys general and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau obtained roughly $92 million in debt relief from Colfax Capital Corp. and Culver Capital LLC, collectively known as Rome Finance, for approximately 17,000 U.S. service members and other consumers harmed by the companys alleged predatory lending scheme.
According to the CFPB, Rome Finance enticed consumers with promises of no money down and instant financing. The company then masked expensive finance charges by inflating the disclosed price of the consumer goods being sold.
Rome Finance withheld information on billing statements and illegally collected on loans that were void, the CFPB alleges. The company and two of its owners are permanently banned from consumer lending.
The company in August 2011, according to Collections & Credit Risk, was
Colfax is a California consumer lending firm and Culver is its wholly owned subsidiary, formerly known as Rome Finance LLC. The companies offered credit to consumers purchasing computers, videogame consoles, televisions or other products. These products often were sold at mall kiosks near military bases with the promise of instant financing with no money down.
In some cases, Rome Finance was the initial creditor. Sometimes the firm provided indirect financing by agreeing to buy the financing contracts from merchants who sold the goods.
Servicemembers and other consumers would fill out a credit application at the kiosk and, if approved, sign financing agreements that did not accurately disclose the amounts they would have to pay for that financing. These contracts generated millions for the company.
Rome Finance has been the subject of previous state and federal enforcement actions, Collections & Credit Risk
The CFPB in its consent order found that Rome Finance:
- Hid finance charges when marketing products: Rome Finance and merchants it worked with masked expensive finance charges by artificially inflating the disclosed price of the consumer goods being sold. As a result, they provided consumers with disclosures that had inaccurately low finance charges and annual percentage rates (APR). Consumers received disclosures, for example, indicating the APR was 16% when in fact the APR was 100 percent or more. That inaccurate information prevented consumers from making an informed decision about whether to take out credit.
- Withheld required financial information from billing statements: Billing statements that Rome Finance sent to consumers failed to include certain disclosures required by law such as: the annual percentage rate, the balance that was subject to that interest rate, how that balance was determined, the closing date of the billing cycle, and the account balance on the closing date.
- Deceptively, unfairly, and abusively collected debt that was not owed: Rome Finance was not licensed to provide consumer lending in any state and charged annual percentage rates higher than some states allowed, which voided or limited the collectable debt in some states under state lending law. Rome Finance deceived consumers in these states by failing to inform them that some or all of their debt was void or otherwise did not have to be repaid. As a result, many consumers were misled into thinking that they had to repay the entire loan balance and making those payments, when they did not have to.
Enforcement Action
The CFPBs consent order requires Rome Finance to:
- Provide approximately $92 million in debt relief: All efforts to collect on any of the outstanding Rome Finance financing agreements must cease. Rome Finance still has approximately $60 million in contracts owed by about 12,000 consumers that it will no longer seek to collect. Separately, a liquidating trust created as part of Colfaxs bankruptcy plan will stop collections on approximately $32 million owed by more than 5,000 consumers for Rome Finances financing agreements. Servicemembers may keep the merchandise they purchased.
- Update credit reporting agencies and notify servicemembers and other consumers of debt status: The Colfax Trustee must update the credit reporting agencies so that affected consumers are listed as having paid their debt. The Colfax Trustee must also notify all affected consumers that their debt will no longer be collected.
- Rome Finance and their owners must cease consumer lending: Rome Finance and two of their owners, Ronald Wilson and William Collins, are permanently banned from conducting any business in the field of consumer lending.
- Pay redress for hidden finance charges: Rome Finance was ordered to pay redress to compensate affected consumers for the amount of excess finance charges they paid. When Colfaxs Trustee has complied with certain provisions of the Consent Order, the requirement to pay redress will be suspended because Rome Finance has no ability to pay such redress.
- Pay civil money penalty: For its inaccurate disclosures, and unfair, deceptive and abusive practices, Colfax, through its bankruptcy trustee, will make a $1 penalty payment to the CFPBs Civil Penalty Fund. The CFPB is not assessing a larger penalty because Colfax is bankrupt. With Colfax making a payment to the Civil Penalty Fund, Rome Finances victims may be eligible for relief from the Civil Penalty Fund in the future, although that determination has not yet been made.
- Cooperate with servicemembers and other consumers who seek to vacate judgments: The Colfax Trustee is required until the Colfax bankruptcy case is closed to cooperate in executing any documents presented to him to vacate or satisfy any judgments against consumers relating to the financing agreements.
