On July 19, 2011, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opened its doors, and America took another step toward recovering from the 2008 financial meltdown.
The CFPB served as a welcome watchdog protecting consumers from a financial sector that had proved careless and, at times, maliciously noncompliant with consumer laws. Since then, MASSPIRG has celebrated the agency’s creation and the $12 billion it returned to 31 million consumers who were harmed by financial companies.
But on the CFPB’s eighth anniversary, we are not celebrating as the current administration’s recent actions threaten to undermine its significant accomplishments. Recently, the office has overseen a sharp decline in staff, an unwillingness to enforce the law, and a 96 percent decrease in the monetary restitution awarded to victims of illegal practices.
A proposed rule change about the behavior of debt collectors is the latest effort to reverse the CFPB’s accomplishments. If adopted, it would permit debt collectors to aggressively pursue consumers with calls and texts, invade their privacy, and sue them for noncollectible “zombie debts.”
While we support the CFPB’s mission and initial work, the agency has lost its way. We urge readers to comment against the CFPB’s Debt Collection Rule by Aug. 19 and tell their elected officials to bring back the consumer cop on the beat and hold the current management of the CFPB accountable.
Madeline Griffith
The author is a consumer policy intern at MASSPIRG, a statewide nonpartisan consumer advocacy organization.