The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is winding down its operations under the Trump Administration, and last week dismissed the first of 38 pending cases that are all expected to be thrown out.
The case involved Solo Funds, Inc., an online provider that lent money in small amounts. The complaint filed by the CFPB under its previous management accused Solo of misrepresenting the true cost of is product.
But what the Biden-era CFPB called misrepresentation, the Trump Administration's Russ Vought calls "innovation."
Vought, the architect of the 2025 Playbook, said CFPB was "wrong" to file the action against Colo.
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) criticized the dismissal.
“Solo Funds lied to its customers, plain and simple, and California, Connecticut and Washington D.C., have all also pursued Solo for its clearly fraudulent scheme," saidErin Witte, CFA’s Director of Consumer Protection.
“The 2008 financial crisis was caused by lenders touting ‘innovative’ financial products, and our country is headed for another economic meltdown if we continue to cripple the CFPB,” Witte said.
Vought has signaled that he intends to walk away from all 38 pending enforcement actions. The agency's headquarters has been shuttered for weeks and most of its employees fired.
After the 2008 financial crisis, Congress gave the explicit directives to establish offices and programming dedicated to protecting vulnerable consumers, issue regulations to govern particular industries, and ensure transparent access to information about consumer financial products.
Since opening its doors, the CFPB has directly obtained over $21 billion in relief for over 205 million people from companies that illegally cheated consumers.