WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced Sept. 6 that it took action against Zero Parallel, an online lead aggregator, for allegedly steering consumers toward lenders that offered illegal or unlicensed loans that were void in the consumer’s state.
Zero Parallel purportedly sold consumers’ payday and installment loan applications to lenders when it knew the loans were likely to be void and the lenders had no legal right to collect. The company has been ordered to pay a $100,000 penalty. Additionally, it must ensure loans resulting from applications it sells are not void.
Zero Parallel’s owner, Davit Gasparyan, was also cited for similar alleged conduct at his prior company, T3Leads. Gasparyan has been ordered to end the allegedly abusive practices and pay $250,000 in penalties.
"Zero Parallel steered consumers toward payday and installment loans that were a bad deal," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. "We’re ordering Zero Parallel and its owner Davit Gasparyan to pay $350,000 and to stop these illegal abusive practices."
The CFPB used authority granted by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which allows the agency to take action against institutions and individuals for allegedly abusive practices toward consumers.