The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report in response to a request by members of Congress that it assess the effect of recent stop-work orders, workforce reductions, contract terminations, and other related actions on the CFPB’s ability to fulfill its statutorily mandated functions. The report addresses the status of CFPB’s significant reorganization and downsizing efforts from February through August 2025.… Continue Reading

The Justice Department and State of Texas recently entered into a settlement agreement with Colony Ridge Development, LLC and related entities (Colony Ridge) to settle allegations that Colony Ridge violated certain federal and state laws. The Justice Department had alleged violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Fair Housing Act (FHA).… Continue Reading

In the episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor podcast we are releasing today, we examine what may be the most consequential development in New York consumer protection law in nearly half a century: the enactment of the New York State Fair Business Practices Act (the FAIR Act).

Signed into law in December 2025 and taking effect on February 17, 2026, the FAIR Act represents the first comprehensive overhaul of New York General Business Law § 349 in almost 50 years.… Continue Reading

Senator Elizabeth Warren has sent a sharply worded letter to CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought that crystallizes an unusual moment in consumer financial services regulation: a populist-sounding call from President Trump to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent, paired with what Warren characterizes as a deliberate dismantling of the very agency that would be central to implementing any such reform.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has received the funding it requested from the Federal Reserve, according to a January 15 letter submitted by the Justice Department to the court in the lawsuit filed against the CFPB by the National Treasury Employees Union.

On January 9, CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought notified Judge Amy Berman Jackson that, in response to her December 30, 2025 opinion in National Treasury Employees Union v.Continue Reading

The CFPB, under former Director Rohit Chopra, regularly engaged in regulatory overreach, the Bureau’s current leadership said in its semi-annual report, covering the period from April 1- September 30, 2024.

“As indicated throughout the Report, under his leadership, the Bureau regularly engaged in an overreach of its statutory mandates via punishment of disfavored industries,” the Bureau, under current Acting Director Russell Vought said, in the report.… Continue Reading

As previously reported, in October 2023 the CFPB and DOJ issued a joint statement regarding “the potential civil rights implications of a creditor’s consideration of an individual’s immigration status under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).” We were critical of the joint statement, and observed that:

“By not providing clear guidance on when the consideration of immigration status can cross the line into improper discrimination based on race or national origin, the agencies make it difficult for us to avoid the conclusion that the agencies’ primary goal in issuing the statement is to scare creditors away from using immigration status in credit decisions.”… Continue Reading

On January 3, 2026, the Senate sent the nomination of Stuart Levenbach to be CFPB Director back to the President without acting on it—a move that would allow Russell Vought to remain acting head of the bureau through August 1.

President Trump nominated Levenbach, an Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget, as CFPB Director in November.… Continue Reading

In her December 30, 2025 opinion in National Treasury Employees Union v. Vought (which we blogged about here), Judge Amy Berman Jackson concluded that the CFPB may continue to draw funding from the Federal Reserve System even when the Federal Reserve, on a combined basis, is losing money. According to the court, the statutory phrase “combined earnings of the Federal Reserve System” in 12 U.S.C.… Continue Reading