Trump CFPB Abandons Billions in Consumer Relief, Letting Predatory Corporations Off the Hook

February 27, 2025 Press Release

Washington, D.C. — The Trump administration’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has dismissed multiple enforcement lawsuits this week that sought to hold major financial institutions accountable for predatory practices, erasing billions in potential consumer relief. These cases, originally brought under former Director Rohit Chopra, targeted Capital One for deceptive interest charges, Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance for predatory lending, Rocket Homes for illegal kickbacks, and Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency for improper loan collections. In response, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“The Trump administration’s decision to drop these cases is a gift to some of the worst corporate wrongdoers in the financial industry and a gut punch to the millions of Americans they harmed,” said Morgan Harper, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Capital One will keep the $2 billion it allegedly cheated from customers in excess interest. Families who were trapped in unaffordable mortgages and set up to fail by Vanderbilt will get no justice. Rocket Homes and its real estate agent partners will get to keep profits from their illegal kickback scheme. And student borrowers who were illegally forced to repay discharged loans by PHEAA will be left holding the bag. This is an outrageous abdication of the CFPB’s mission to protect consumers—which millions of Americans across the country depend on to avoid being scammed, swindled and cheated.”

The dismissals were filed with prejudice, meaning these cases cannot be refiled, permanently denying affected consumers any chance of relief. The decision to drop pending litigation comes as Jonathan McKernan, President Trump’s nominee to head the CFPB, pledged today during his confirmation hearing that the agency would “implement and enforce the federal consumer financial laws and perform each of its other statutorily assigned functions.” Under the leadership of Acting Director Russell Vought, the CFPB has moved aggressively to dismantle its enforcement capabilities, shutting down its Washington headquarters, firing hundreds of employees, and now dropping key lawsuits that would have held corporations accountable.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.