We've got ideas to help President Biden and his excellent director nominee Rohit Chopra at the CFPB!

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You should be able to save, invest and manage your money without fear of being trapped, tricked or ripped off by the institutions you are trusting with your future. But as we've seen time and again, from Equifax to Wells Fargo, this isn't always the case. That’s why we need strong consumer protections in the financial marketplace.

We saw in 2008 what happens when Wall Street is allowed to engage in reckless, largely unchecked behavior. The financial crash and recession that followed made it clear how much we need fair, clear, transparent and enforceable rules to protect consumers. So we helped create an independent agency whose sole mission is to create and enforce those rules — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

We're excited to get to work with the president and his excellent nominee to run the CFPB, Rohit Chopra.  We're confident that he will return the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to its only job, protecting consumers.

  • <h4>The CFPB: Your Cop On The Consumer Beat</h4><p>After the 2008 economic collapse it became clear that Americans needed stronger protections, and clearer rules on Wall Street. So in 2010, our national network helped create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the only agency devoted to creating and enforcing fair, clear and transparent rules to protect consumers in the financial marketplace.</p>
  • <h4>Results For Victims Of Consumer Scams</h4><p>In its first six years, the Consumer Bureau returned nearly $12 billion to 29 million people wronged by companies who broke the law, and they punished Wells Fargo for creating fake accounts.</p>
  • <h4>A Database Of Consumer Complaints</h4><p>The Consumer Bureau has an online database where people can submit their complaints on just about any financial problem they might be dealing with. So far, it’s processed more than 1.8 million of these complaints.</p>
  • <h4>Protecting Veterans And Service Members</h4><p>Veterans and members of the military are often targets for financial schemes and tricks. The Consumer Bureau enforces special laws designed to protect military family pocketbooks from high-cost financial products and out-and-out financial scams.</p>
  • <h4>Helping Students</h4><p>These days the high cost of education is requiring many students to finance their education. The Consumer Bureau helps students understand the different options for paying off student loans, and protect themselves from unfair campus banking practices.</p>
  • <h4>Helping Older Americans</h4><p>Older Americans are often targets of financial exploitation, either by relatives or by a variety of scam artists. The Consumer Bureau has a special office to provide tips, advice and tools for older Americans as they make tough financial choices.</p>
  • <h4>Answering Consumer Questions</h4><p>How do I dispute an error on my credit report? How does foreclosure work? What is the difference between a fixed APR and a variable APR? When can I remove private mortgage insurance (PMI) from my loan? What is a remittance transfer? The CFPB can answer questions like these and more.</p>
The CFPB Gets The Job Done

In its first six years, the Consumer Bureau, established in 2011, was a huge success, returning $12 billion to more than 31 million consumers wronged by companies that have broken the law. It has held big banks like Wells Fargo accountable for signing millions of customers up for fraudulent accounts without their knowledge. It has fined some of the big credit reporting agencies like Equifax for marketing fraud. And it has helped level the financial playing field, educating veterans, senior citizens, new homeowners, college students and low-income consumers on how to keep their finances secure.

Over the last three years, the Trump administration slowed the Bureau's work. But it survived. We were even able to defeat efforts to eliminate its public Consumer Complaint Database.

Now that President Biden has nominated as director FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra, who served as the CFPB's first statutory Student Loan Ombudsman, the CFPB is back on track to protect consumers.

We look forward to working with  the new administration to protect consumers.

President Trump's appointed CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney has taken steps to weaken the bureau.
Official White House Photo by Evan Walker
Senators, Keep Our Cops On The Financial Beat

We’re calling on our senators to stop any bad bills that try to roll back or eliminate consumer protections, oppose any efforts to weaken the bureau by removing its independent funding, and only approve leaders to the bureau who are qualified and committed to its mission.

Our national network is working to keep a filibuster in the U.S. Senate by ensuring that Democratic senators defend the agency against all attacks this year. A filibuster is sustained with 41 initial votes against moving forward and applies to most legislation. In the case of the CFPB, this means legislation to get rid of the CFPB or change its leadership structure and funding would require 60 senators to agree to bring those bills up for a binding vote.

Even with the Consumer Bureau on the job, many people in our state are still at risk of reckless financial practices that threaten their homes, their retirement savings and their overall well-being. That’s why we don’t simply need the Consumer Bureau to exist: We need to make it even better by strengthening commonsense consumer protections, spreading the word about its success and potential, and defending it from constant attacks from Wall Street.

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Tell Congress: Don't Weaken The Consumer Bureau

Some proposals hidden in the budget would weaken the Consumer Bureau and remove critical consumer protections. Make your voice heard today.

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