A recent Reuters news story, “Trump official quietly drops payday loan case, mulls others,” provides additional evidence that Trump’s unlawfully appointed Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Mick Mulvaney is giving predatory payday lenders a free pass. Specifically, National Credit Adjusters, a debt collector for payday loan companies with 685 complaints against it, confirmed that a pending case against the company is “dead.” Also, “five people with direct knowledge of the matter” said that Mulvaney is considering dropping pursuit of cases against Security Finance, Cash Express, and Triton Management Group. All the cases had been approved for litigation by previous Consumer Bureau Director Richard Cordray.

Representatives of the Stop the Debt Trap campaign, made up of more than 750 organizations from across the country, released the following statements:

“Mick Mulvaney is letting predatory payday lenders off the hook while they rip off American consumers,” said Center for Responsible Lending Executive Vice President Diane Standaert. “The companies identified in this report have a well-documented history of causing borrowers financial devastation. If they have committed illegal actions, they should be held accountable. This news is more indication of the continuation of a troubling trend that the Trump Administration is choosing to make life easier for predatory lenders to prey on people already struggling to make ends meet.”

“The temporary head of the consumer bureau is taking a wrecking ball to consumer protections,” said José Alcoff, Payday Campaign Manager at Americans for Financial Reform. “Mulvaney should let the bureau do its job to enforce the law and win back tens of millions in refunds for consumers scammed by this company, instead of shamelessly using his role at the consumer bureau to help payday lenders.”

“If these companies have illegally taken $60 million from working families, many who are likely living on the edge, the Consumer Bureau should take action,” said National Consumer Law Center Associate Director Lauren Saunders. “Mick Mulvaney should not give payday lenders a free pass to harass people with illegal calls or threats at home or at work, or to collect on illegal loans.”