By not updating the account status to paid in full, future attempts by a consumer to gain access to a new checking account could be negatively affected, the CFPB said. Federal law states that depository institutions must have systems in place regarding accuracy when they pass on information to checking account reporting or other credit reporting companies.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray warned financial institutions in February there could be bureau actions taken against them if they fail to meet credit reporting accuracy obligations.

The agency reported that it remediated $14.3 million to approximately 228,000 customers due to regulatory violations. The report, which covered supervisory examinations between September 2015 and December 2015, said it also found violations in the student loan market and remittance rule.

Violations in the student loan market included illegal automatic defaults by student loan servicers and illegal garnishment threats by debt collectors performing services for the Department of Education.

"It is deeply concerning that our examiners found private student loan borrowers being hit with automatic defaults when their co-borrower goes bankrupt," Cordray said. "The problems plaguing the student loan market can have a domino effect on borrowers' financial futures. The CFPB has made it a priority to police this market so that borrowers are not treated unfairly or illegally dead-ended into default."           

One or more student loan servicers were found to have engaged in an unfair practice by automatically defaulting on certain private student loans. An auto default clause by some lenders was triggered to demand immediate payment of an entire loan in certain instances where a co-borrower filed for bankruptcy or died, regardless if the borrower was current on all payments.

The report stated that some debt collectors used false, deceptive or misleading representations when performing collection services of defaulted federal student loans. The debt collectors threatened garnishment against certain borrowers who were not eligible for garnishment under the Department of Education's guidelines. The debt collectors also gave borrowers inaccurate information about when garnishment would begin, creating a false sense of urgency.

The agency also reported instances of international money transfer companies violating the CFPB's new remittance rule.

This was the first Supervisory Highlights to report on exams of financial institutions in the remittance market. Examiners found remittance transfer providers implemented necessary changes to comply with the new rule. However, the report also said that for some providers, the compliance management systems are still in the early stages of development and weaknesses were noted.

Examiners found that at least one provider gave incomplete and sometimes inaccurate disclosures to customers, while some providers failed to cancel transactions within the required timeframe – typically 30 minutes – and some failed to promptly credit consumers' accounts when errors occurred.

Director Cordray will appear before the House Financial Services Committee on March 16.