RSSThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau voluntarily dropped enforcement actions this week against Capital One and Rocket Homes. The bureau also dropped lawsuits it had filed against Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, and others.
Less than a week before Trump’s inauguration, the CFPB announced it was suing Capital One for allegedly misleading consumers about the interest rates of their savings accounts and for misleading them out of more than $2 billion in interest. In December, the CFPB sued Rocket Homes for allegedly providing incentives to real estate agents and brokers in exchange for bringing homebuyers to Rocket Mortgage LLC for loans. On Jan. 6, the CFPB sued Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance for reportedly not documenting or verifying borrowers before making a mortgage.
The lawsuits were filed in the final weeks of the Biden administration under former Director Rohit Chopra. The dismissals come as the future of the bureau remains murky
The federal employee union representing CFPB employees —The National Treasury Employees Union — filed a federal lawsuit alleging the administration doesn’t have the authority to shutter the bureau without congressional action. Earlier this week, the Trump administration said in a court filing that it does not plan to eliminate the CFPB but intends to streamline the agency.
According to the administration, the bureau’s headquarters were closed because of staff protests outside the building. Administration lawyers also cited the nomination of former FDIC Director Jonathan McKernan as CFPB director as evidence they don’t plan to close the agency.
The filing came after Acting CFPB Director Russ Vought told employees to stop all activities and directed the Federal Reserve to not give the bureau its next round of funding. Trump has signaled his support for closing the bureau.
Earlier in February, Acting CFPB Director Russ Vought opened a tip line on X for banks and other businesses to report CFPB staff for undertaking regulatory or enforcement work despite being called to stop activity. Vought ordered CFPB employees to stop working on Feb. 9. The CFPB homepage has added an error message.
