Umpqua pays UDAP CMP for collection practices

Umpqua Bank, Roseburg, Oregon, has agreed to the FDIC's issuance of an order that the bank pay a civil money penalty of $1,800,000 following the FDIC's determination that "the Bank has engaged in violations of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“Section 5”), 15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1), in the commercial finance and leasing products issued by its wholly owned subsidiary, Financial Pacific Leasing, Inc. (FinPac), by engaging in deceptive and/or unfair practices related to certain collection fees and collection practices involving excessive or sequential calling, disclosure of debt information to nonborrowers, and failure to abide by requests to cease and desist continued collection calls."

The FDIC said that FinPac's collection fee practices were unfair and deceptive, because FinPac charged various undisclosed collection fees to borrowers whose accounts were past due, such as collection call and letter fees and third-party collection fees. The FDIC also said that FinPac engaged in excessive and sequential collection calls to customers, even when customers requested that FinPac stop these calls. FinPac also disclosed information about the customers’ debts to third parties. FinPac also advised borrowers FinPac would report delinquencies on commercial debt to the consumer reporting agencies, when its policy and practice was not to make such reports.

The FDIC's Order indicates that Umpqua Bank neither admitted nor denied any violation of law or regulations.

• FDIC press release