Crist requests CFPB investigation of Marlin Financial

This story appeared in Bank Digest.                                   

Representative Charlie Crist (D-Fla) has written a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Mick Mulvaney calling for a federal investigation into Marlin Financial, an auto loan company operating in Florida, following a Tampa Bay Times examination of alleged deceptive practices. Crist said, "According to the reporting, Marlin Financial has engaged in unscrupulous business practices including requiring the purchase of unnecessary debt cancellation insurance, charging consumers usurious interest rates, seizing consumers' personal items within repossessed vehicles, and failing to respond to customer complaints." 

In calling for a CFPB investigation, Crist said that if any of the "outrageous behaviors" the Tampa Bay Times has reported violate federal consumer financial protection laws, he urged the Bureau "to hold the company accountable and make its victims whole."