In June 2015, the CFPB sued RPM Mortgage, and its CEO Erwin Robert Hirt, for allegedly paying “employees bonuses to place clients in loans with higher interest rates, earning tens of millions of dollars in payments from 2011 to 2013.” RPM Mortgage agreed to refund $18 million to affected consumers, and pay an additional $2 million fine, which went to the CFPB’s civil penalty fund.

• The CFPB filed a lawsuit against RPM Mortgage, Inc. and Erwin Robert Hirt in US District Court Northern District of California. [CFPB v. RPM Mortgage, Inc. and Erwin Robert Hirt, case no. 4:15-cv-02475, filed 06/04/15]

• The CFPB sued RPM Mortgage and CEO Erwin Robert Hirt for allegedly paying “employees bonuses to place clients in loans with higher interest rates, earning tens of millions of dollars in payments from 2011 to 2013.”

“According to the federal agency, in April 2011, RPM instituted the illegal compensation plan that would pay loan officers based on the interest rate they secured with customers. ‘The CFPB also found that Hirt, RPM’s CEO, was responsible for managing the design and implementation of this illegal compensation plan,’ the bureau wrote in a statement. The company hid the scheme by filtering the proceeds through ’employee-expense accounts,’ the bureau said. From April 2011 to January 2012, RPM paid 511 bonuses to loan agents, according to federal regulators.”

As per the agreement, RPM Mortgage and its CEO will pay “$20 million for illegally paying bonuses and higher commissions to loan agents to steer consumers into costlier loans.” The CFPB will use $18 million to refund affected consumers. The remaining $2 million will go into the CFPB’s civil penalty fund. [“Alamo: RPM Mortgage fined $20 million over loan scheme,” Bay Area News Group, 06/08/15]