CFPB, FTC join to target deceptive mortgage ads

Two federal agencies have joined together to beef up investigations and enforcement actions against companies who engage in fraudulent advertising under the Mortgage Acts and Practices Advertising Rule and the Federal Trade Commission Act.

Officials from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the FTC have combed through more than 800 ads on television, in print and on the Internet and sent out dozens of warning letters to companies whose ads are deceptive under federal rules, agency officials said in a media conference call on Nov. 19.

“They can confuse consumers when they are making the most significant financial decisions of their lives,” Kent Markus, the CFPB’s Assistant Director of Enforcement, said on the call.

Warning letters were sent to companies including estate agents, home builders and lead generators, urging them to review their advertisements for compliance with federal law. Some of the ads in question made a number of deceptive claims, from false assertions of government affiliation to incorrect or misleading claims about payments, guarantees approval or interest rates, federal officials said. Others include deceptive information aimed at certain groups that may be more vulnerable, such as offers of reverse mortgages aimed at the elderly consumers.