The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has dropped four enforcement actions against financial services companies.
CNBC reports the agency issued legal filings for the voluntary dismissal for cases involving Capital One, the Berkshire Hathaway-owned Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance, Rocket Companies’ Rocket Homes Real Estate, and the loan servicer Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA).
The enforcement actions against Capital One, Vanderbilt and Rocket Homes Real Estate were launched during the final weeks of the Biden administration while the action against PHEAA began last May.
“The Plaintiff, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, dismisses with prejudice this action against all Defendants,” the agency said seeking the dismissal of the Capital One case, with similar language used in the other cases.
Last week, the agency dismissed an enforcement its case against the fintech lender SoLo Funds.
CNBC also reported that unnamed “current and former CFPB employees” said legal cases with upcoming docket dates were likely to be dropped in an ongoing disavowal of the enforcement focus championed by previous CFPB Director Rohit Chopra.
The CFPB is unconstitutional, as it is not a part of any one of the 3 branches of government and answers to no one. As with everything, there was good done but it needs to be dismantled.
Its enforcement work protecting the public from large companies injuring consumers was previously done–and continues to be done–by class action attorneys, which are generally more successful than the CFPB. Such attorneys are paid only if they are successful and there is no shortage of them willing to take the risks and take on the big corporations.
The CFPB compliance section costs huge amounts that are directly passed along to the consumer in every residential real estate transaction (every lender, closing attorney/settlement shop, etc. increased their fees substantially as a result of the costs needed to comply with CFPB rules). I’ve yet to see any benefit to those requirements by the CFPB that have directly cost American consumers billions since 2015.
This is not true! It was set up by Congress. They take in more than they spend.
More accurate to say they save or return to consumers more than it costs to operate. But your point that it is cost worthy holds.
I agree, any person going through a problem real estate sale is glad to have the CFPB on the side
The conservative SCOTUS disagrees with your assessment of constitutionality.
See: CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU ET AL. v. COMMUNITY FINANCIAL SERVICES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, LTD., ET AL.
Costs, minimal when shared by all consumers, on the front end for compliance is far more efficient than numerous class action lawsuits that serve primarily to enrich attorneys, which is why “there is no shortage of them,” while few or no consumer victims are ever made whole. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
I was around when CFPB came about. The attorneys could not answer our questions! CFPB would not engage with us the broker and mortgage brokers – was told to ask our attorneys. Yet the attorneys could not get answers either.
Frank Dodd was a nightmare! CFPB answered to no one and could not be held accountable. They have free range. The fines are outrages …and where did those fines go to (I wonder).
The paperwork, loans costs rules etc. etc. were a nightmare and CFPB took any decision making out of the hands of the business owner and banks… Lot of business when out of business because of them.
CFPB SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN AND NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN APPROVED.
So what is DOGE you big doofus? CFPB was created by and act of Congress, DOGE wasn’t. So are you against protecting America consumers from financial fraud and other abuses? What a loser!
I guess the above “Skeptic” does not want banks and other institutions hurting consumers to held accountable. We will add him to the crooks list
While the CFPB was set up by Congress, it is not funded by Congressional Appropriations during the Government budget process. Doubtful that it belong to Congress. They don’t appoint the head of the CFPB, for example.
CFPB did not answer to anyone. Big egos! Always need a check and balance.
Thank you Tom!
I was in-house counsel for one of the largest auto-finance companies in the US when the CFPB started. I was there when they sent their associates to examine our company. I feel that, while it might have been some overkill, they wanted companies to be transparent and genuinely wanted to help consumers.