The Risk of an Anti-Consumer CFPB

The risks of an anti-consumer CFPB go beyond just those cases currently under investigation. America has a massive financial sector that is constantly evolving and reinventing itself. This striving for innovation and efficiency is, of course, one of the American financial system’s great advantages. Nevertheless, the Sun-Tzu-worshipping, MBA-wielding financiers that use boilerplate consumer credit contracts as weapons in their endless market-share battles are paying attention to what the agency is doing—and more importantly, to what it is not doing. A chilled CFPB law enforcement program will embolden the consumer finance industry to roll out more misleading advertising, more deceptive sales scripts, more onerous hidden fees, larger kickbacks in exchange for ripping off customers, weaker credit reporting accuracy safeguards, less identity-theft resilient services, and more dehumanizing one-on-one debt collection. At its core, the fight over CFPB leadership matters because a chilled CFPB law enforcement program will lead to a disempowered, less affluent America