The Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) is amazing, but it’s being dismantled to make fraud easier to commit.
I never thought I would be in the position of trying to drum up support for government agencies. As a child in the 90’s, it seems second nature to be all like, “down with the man, man.” The government was full of suits that didn’t care about the real people. Rage Against The Machine and all that.
But now in this topsy turvy world, we have traitorous people running the government who actually want to dismantle the government piece by piece, and liberal, left-leaning people are saying, “hey, now wait a minute.”
Personally, I think our anger against the powers that be are all in the wrong place. We get angry about having to pay taxes (which are some of the lowest in the world), while corporations and billionaires offshore their wealth and property and and pay next to nothing. If we made Messrs. Musk, Bezos, Walton, etc. pay their fair share, instead of us being all “temporarily embarrassed millionaire” about it all, we’d get better services right away, and we would see where our tax dollars are going much more directly.
But right now, our tax dollars are going to subsidize rich people. Bravo.
If only there was some kind of agency that was designed to help fix fraud, work in the people’s interest, and try to bring financial criminals to justice. Wouldn’t that be great?
Except there already is. It’s called the Consumer Financial Protection Board, or CFPB.
If you don’t yet love the CFPB, you should.
Table of Contents
What is the CFPB?
The CFPB (not linking to it yet for reasons you’ll see below) was created in response to the financial crisis of 2007-2008. Its official role is that it “implements and enforces Federal consumer financial law and ensures that markets for consumer financial products are fair, transparent, and competitive.”
What this means is that financial laws exist to protect consumers (think FDIC), but that there needs to be a watchdog that ensures that companies follow the law and don’t try to, you know, blatantly defraud people.
Tell me why this is a bad idea, to help enforce the law against fraudulent activities. I’ll wait.
So why should you love the CFPB? Here are 4 reasons:
1. CFPB has successfully fined companies for wrongdoing
In 2019, CFPB helped to secure a $700 million settlement with Equifax after the a data breach exposed personal information for millions of people.
Before that, the CFPB fined Wells Fargo $100 million for opening millions of unauthorized account in customer’s names.
And the CFPB got Block to pay $175 million in restitution to consumers for weak security practices and putting customer’s data at risk.
I could go on, but you get the idea. These were companies acting fraudulently at your expense, and the CFPB was able to utilize legal tactics to hold them to account.
All in all the CFPB reports that they have recovered $21 billion in relief for over 200 million people. Wow.
Tell me again why this is a bad thing?
2. CFPB has helped borrowers reduce or eliminate their student loans
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) plan is a benefit given to student loan borrowers that offers student loan forgiveness to people who work in public service after making 120 qualifying payments.
This program used to be a mess. People would pay for years, and then find out that none of their payments had “counted”, and there was no accountability in the system. Many people changed careers to work in public service to get their loans forgiven, only to find out that they couldn’t get their loans forgiven after all.
And then the CFPB stepped in.
They not only raised awareness for the program, but also helped borrowers through the process. They advocated for fixing the administrative errors that kept months from “counting”, which raised the success rates of loan forgiveness.
In short, the CFPB helped the PSLF program do what it was supposed to do.
Is this so terrible? I don’t think so.
3. CFPB helped produce less sneaky credit card companies
The CFPB has made credit cards less problematic and abusive for users. They’ve been able to limit the fees for late payments, and got better disclosures on what the fees, benefits, and services are offered as part of the credit card agreement.
This not only saves you money, but also increases transparency in your financial arrangements.
I’m having trouble understanding why this is seen as something we wouldn’t want.
4. CFPB provides financial education to all
The CFPB provides a mine of information on financial literacy. Guides, tools, websites, program materials, it’s all there available for free, for consumers and educators alike.
I know that I have relied on lots of CFPB materials over the years.
And again, why do we not want this?
The CFPB is being dismantled
The Trump Administration has installed a new head of the CFPB, and basically instructed him to dismantle the agency, fire as many people as possible, and stop all enforcement.
Since the CFPB is designed to fight fraud, the only possible reason for this is because the administration wants to make fraud, graft, and corruption acceptable. They are on the side of those who wish to defraud us.
These people are ghouls, and they are going to cause pain and suffering, both financial and otherwise, on a massive scale, solely so they can line their pockets with money, stolen from us.
It’s frankly disgusting, and one of the most nakedly corrupt moves this administration has taken to date (and that’s saying a lot).
At the time of writing, I took a screenshot of the home page of the CFPB. This is heartbreaking.
What can we do?
Unfortunately, there’s not a ton we can do, but there’s not nothing.
I’m going to quote some resources I received from the AFCPE (where I am a member):
- Reach out to your elected representatives
- Submit a letter to the editor of your local paper
- Register for Consumer Advocacy week
That second link has some strong words that I quite agree with:
“The CFPB saves homes, stops fraud that ruins lives, and enforces key laws, securing $21 billion in relief for over 200 million people harmed by credit bureaus, big banks, debt collectors and predatory lenders. It is critical that consumers and advocates reach out to their elected representatives to make the case for the essential role of the CFPB in protecting people from unfair, deceptive, and abusive financial practices.”
It’s a sad day that nakedly corrupt individuals are trying to dismantle our democracy for their own financial gain. It’s criminal, and if there were any justice these people would be incarcerated for the rest of their lives so that they aren’t able to suck the lifeblood from our nation any longer.
It’s a dark time, but I’m not giving up, and neither should you. I’m only one person, but if the CFPB can’t continue with its financial education, at least I can.
