OneMain Financial Holdings, LLC; OneMain Financial Group, LLC; OneMain Financial (HI), Inc.; OneMain Financial, Inc.; OneMain Financial of Minnesota, Inc.
On May 31, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) issued an order against OneMain Financial Holdings, LLC; OneMain Financial Group, LLC; OneMain Financial (HI), Inc.; OneMain Financial, Inc.; and OneMain Financial of Minnesota, Inc. (collectively referred to as OneMain). OneMain is an Indiana-based personal loan installment lender with more than 1,400 branches across 44 states. In connection with loan originations and renewals, OneMain markets, sells, and finances add-on products, including credit life insurance, credit disability insurance, and identity theft protection. For several years, OneMain misrepresented to tens of thousands of consumers who purchased and then subsequently canceled optional add-on products that they could cancel the products during what it called a “full refund period” and be returned to the financial position they would have been in had the product never been added to their loan. The Bureau found that OneMain engaged in deceptive acts or practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (CFPA) by misleading consumers into believing they must purchase add-on products to receive loans and that they could cancel the add-on products within a prescribed time period without cost. The Bureau also found that OneMain engaged in unfair acts or practices in violation of the CFPA by charging and failing to refund the full premium and interest that accrued on add-on products consumers did not agree to purchase and by charging and failing to refund interest that accrued on add-on product fees during a purported full-refund period. Finally, the Bureau found that OneMain violated the CFPA by abusively interfering with consumers’ ability to understand that add-on products were optional and that OneMain charged non-refundable interest during the purported full-refund period. The order requires OneMain to stop its unlawful activities, adjust its policies to make cancellation of add-on products easier, include interest in refunds after add-on product cancellations, pay at least $10,000,000 in consumer redress, and pay a $10,000,000 civil money penalty. OneMain must also take measures to ensure future compliance.
Related documents
Press release
CFPB Orders Installment Lender OneMain to Pay $20 Million for Deceptive Sales Practices