Complaints rise, relief falls as CFPB cuts hit tri-state consumers
Kane In Your Corner finds that complaints are up at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but the number of consumers getting relief is down.
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau website is filled with consumer complaints, including those in the tri-state area.
“My checking account has been closed with about $6,000 still in the account,” a New York consumer wrote.
Another said, “All my credit cards were closed without explanation. I have been using these cards for 20 years.”
“Accounts and/or debts were reporting under my name that I did not authorize or create," a New Jersey consumer reported.
All three turned to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for help. But funding for the CFPB was cut by 46% last year and those cuts appear to be affecting consumers.
Kane In Your Corner analyzed data on consumer complaints from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The analysis found that complaints increased by 29% over the past year – but the number of consumers getting relief fell by 17%.
“Right now, more people are filing complaints, but distinctly fewer are getting a resolution,” said Adam Rust, of the Consumer Federation of America.
Rust noted that the CFPB has also closed roughly 40% of the investigations that were in progress and rolled back dozens of settlements that were already on the books.
“The CFPB has stepped in under this administration to say, ‘We’re sorry, we take it back, we’re canceling that penalty,’” Rust said. “[It’s] literally taking things away from people when we know there’s been wrongdoing.”
News 12 asked the CFPB for comment; the agency did not respond.
However, in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee over the summer, the CFPB’s acting director said he believed that under the Biden administration, the bureau had been overstepping its authority – intervening in cases where it was not necessary. He said the agency is now targeting only clear-cut cases of direct harm to consumers.
It’s an explanation some consumer advocates reject.
“It’s not as if getting by in today’s economy is easier than it used to be. It’s distinctly harder, and lots of people are struggling,” Rust said. “So, it’s really the wrong time for a regulator to take its foot off the gas.”
