Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) officials said the agency had settled with Mark Corbett, a broker of contracts offering high-interest credit to veterans.
CFPB officials said Corbett violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 by misrepresenting to consumers the contracts he facilitated were valid and enforceable when the contracts were void because veterans’ pension payments are unassignable under federal law. He also violated the act by misrepresenting to consumers the offered product is a purchase of payments and not a high-interest credit offer, and by misrepresenting to consumers when they will receive their funds.
As a result of the agency’s consent order with Corbett, officials said he is permanently banned from brokering, offering or arranging agreements between veterans and third parties under which the veteran purports to sell a future right to an income stream from the veteran’s pension.
Corbett must also pay a civil money penalty of $1, an amount accounting for his inability to pay more based on sworn financial statements that he provided to the Bureau and Corbett’s ongoing cooperation with the Bureau’s investigation.
CFPB officials said the agency’s investigation is being conducted in conjunction with the Office of Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs.