‘Screwed twice’: The CFPB says it’s looking out for consumers. Its own data tells a different story

Key Points:

• Under the Trump administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) dropped numerous consumer protection lawsuits against major corporations like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Berkshire Hathaway, despite rising consumer complaints against these firms afterward.
• Following the dismissal of these lawsuits, complaints against most of the involved companies surged significantly, with some firms like Rocket Mortgage and Branch Messenger Inc. seeing complaint increases of over 130% and 300%, respectively.
• The CFPB's enforcement actions sharply declined during Trump’s second term, launching only two public enforcement actions compared to an average of 30 per year previously, while the agency also restricted public access to consumer complaint narratives.
• Consumer advocates and former CFPB officials criticize the agency’s rollback as ignoring urgent consumer issues, highlighting increased complaints about predatory lending, digital payment abuses, and “buy now, pay later” loans, especially affecting vulnerable groups like service members and veterans.
• In response to these developments and recent midterm election results, some Democrats plan to investigate and potentially reverse the CFPB’s enforcement retreat, aiming to restore stronger consumer protections and hold accountable those responsible for weakening the agency.