consumer Archives - Americans for Financial Reform

A book titled "Consumer Protection" on a desk with a gavel resting on top

Blog: Trump CFPB Abandons Data Broker Rule Aimed at Decreasing Fraud and Identity Theft

Earlier this week, the Trump CFPB withdrew the agency’s previously proposed data broker rule, which would have limited how our sensitive and private financial data is collected, used, and sold. With little to no other regulation over data brokers, the withdrawal of this rule will allow companies to collect and sell our private and sensitive financial data to third party strangers without oversight or accountability.

News Release: AFR Statement on Escalating Attacks on the CFPB and the Communities It Protects

The most recent plans for the CFPB from the Trump Administration—additional dramatic staff cuts, a narrowing of the agency’s focus, and a reduction in supervision and enforcement—all send the same dangerous message: that bad actors in finance have permission to rip people off with impunity.

News Release: AFR Statement on Unlawful Firings of Two NCUA Board Members

President Trump illegally fired two Board members at the National Credit Union Administration yesterday, in yet another effort to incapacitate the agencies responsible for protecting everyday consumers and safeguarding the financial system.

April 5th 2025 Hands Off CFPB Union Signs

Blog: There is No “Right Way” to Close the CFPB

Let’s be clear: Hal Scott’s opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal calling for the shutdown of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)—because the Fed has been running a deficit—isn’t just a bad policy recommendation; it’s an intentionally backward argument that advocates harming the very people the financial system has historically exploited.

News Release: House Committee Passes Crypto Bill Devoid of Fraud and Corruption Limits

The House Financial Services Committee today approved a massive giveaway to the cryptocurrency industry with a bill on stablecoins that lacks basic fraud and consumer safeguards and does nothing to address the corrupt crypto business deals that the Trump family is now pursuing. It also approved a bill to gut small business and farm lending transparency requirements under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Blog: Republicans Push to Repeal Payment App Rule Benefiting Big Tech and Musk

Congressional Republicans are showing their Big Tech true colors. Today, House Republicans will push to repeal a commonsense rule that requires payment apps like Cash App and PayPal to follow the same consumer protection rules as the payment apps the banks offer.

News Release: Trump Administration Reverses Lawsuit Against Egregiously Racist Lender

The Trump administration’s decision to reverse an already settled lawsuit against a Chicago mortgage lender over a pattern of failing to serve Black neighborhoods and egregiously racist conduct is an unprecedented attack on the nation’s laws against discrimination in financial services, according to a new analysis from Americans for Financial Reform.

Blog: Trump CFPB Reverses Townstone Discriminatory Lending Settlement

In an astounding first, the Trump-appointed leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has requested that a federal court reverse a racial discrimination settlement that the agency had previously reached with Townstone Financial, a Chicago-based mortgage lender.

Blog: Republicans Take Aim at Families Struggling with Medical Debt

This week, Republicans in Congress introduced a resolution to undo a Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) rule that prevents medical debt from capsizing people’s credit scores. More than 100 million people have medical debt and it shows up on the credit reports of 15 million people.

News Release: Senate Republicans Vote to Enrich Musk by Killing Payment App Protections

Senate Republicans voted to give Elon Musk and Big Tech the ability to operate payment apps without any meaningful oversight or accountability, a step that will leave millions vulnerable to financial predators and scammers.