Is CFPB’s Enforcement Pull-Back a ‘Gift to Predatory Lenders’?

In 2023, state and federal consumer watchdogs sued subprime auto group Credit Acceptance.

The suit, filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and New York State Attorney General, accused the company of misrepresenting the cost of credit and tricking borrowers into expensive loans.

Then in April, the CFPB dropped the case. As The Washington Post reported Friday (June 20), this decision illustrates how — under the Trump administration — the agency’s new enforcement strategy could be impacting consumers.

Without the CFPB involved in the case, any decision would cover New York residents and not the rest of the country.

The Post report, citing research from the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America, said the CFPB has moved to close or dismiss 18 similar lawsuits since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Those suits had accused banks, mortgage firms and installment lenders of financial abuses and deception, the report said.

“These retreats are gifts to predatory lenders and would-be fraudsters,” Erin Witte, director of consumer protection at the Consumer Federation, told the Post. “They are being told over and over that they can keep on doing what they are doing.”

A spokesperson for Credit Acceptance told the news outlet the company rejected the characterization of its business practices as “predatory.”

“For over 50 years, we have provided access to credit for individuals who are often overlooked by traditional lenders. … The vast majority of our customers are grateful for and satisfied with the service we provide,” the company said.

The news comes less than two weeks after Cara Petersen, the CFPB’s acting head of enforcement, resigned from the agency after sending a staff email blasting the Trump administration’s efforts to shutter the regulator.

“I have served under every director and acting director in the bureau’s history and never before have I seen the ability to perform our core mission so under attack,” Petersen wrote.

The Trump administration and its supporters have long lobbied against the CFPB, created after the 2008 financial crisis. They contend that it overstepped its regulator authority during the Biden administration.

Republicans had hoped to defund the CFPB as part of Trump’s tax and spending bill, the “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

However, that plan suffered a setback last week when the Senate parliamentarian ruled that this provision violated Senate rules that require the legislation to include only measures that affect the U.S. budget.