The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, was created by the Dodd-Frank Act back in 2010 and acts as a watchguard and regulator for the country’s financial industry. It made itself a target by passing financial regulations that likely included mission creep.
But as I wrote about several times over the years, it was really useful for consumer complaints against financial services companies.
As with the DOT, I’ve had some big wins thanks to CFPB complaints, including a complaint against a bank for taking too long to transfer funds from a CD that I closed. I had paid an early withdrawal penalty as the CD was well underwater due to rapidly rising post-COVID interest rates. I asked the CFPB to waive that penalty and grant additional interest due to the delay, and the bank agreed to both requests!
When a bank miscalculated interest owed to me, a CFPB complaint got that fixed, along with a goodwill credit. And when a credit card managed to lose my payment, a CFPB complaint got that fixed, along with a goodwill credit.
CFPB complaints didn’t always work, but it did help cut through the red tape and reach agents who were empowered to provide solutions.
However, Elon Musk’s DOGE has marked the agency for deletion:
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1887979940269666769
They did above zero good things, but still need to go
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2025
There’s no doubt that government spending is wildly out of control. Just look at our ballooning national debt, which now exceeds our GDP. But that doesn’t mean that some of the cuts won’t sting.
The CFPB home page now has a page not found error and top agency officials have resigned after being placed on leave and after a stop-work order. It seems like you can still file a complaint, though, with a stop-work order, those might never be processed.
Where will consumers be able to turn to for help with financial institutions?
It takes time, but you can always try climbing the ladder internally by escalating cases to managers and HUCA. A local banker may be able to help you cut through some of the red tape. You can also file a complaint with your state’s attorney general, the Better Business Bureau, or take a company to small claims court. However, a CFPB complaint is a tool that I will miss if it goes away.
Have you had success with CFPB complaints?
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88 Comments On "I, For One, Will Miss The CFPB"
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If Democrats insist on turning federal agencies into proverbial guns against the head, we have no choice but to shrink and eradicate them all to the greatest extent possible.
Cfbp was created by Bush after the financial crisis
Incorrect.
Mistake.
It was recommended by the bush administration and established by Obama.
2011 so yeah, it was after the start of the crisis.
To be clearer, which I should have been, I mean weaponizing agencies to benefit Democrats—either personal riches, no profit donations, political contributions, influence, you name it, whatever is in the Democrat ecosystem.
Did you know that the Obama DOJ settled many cases with the defendant sending millions of cash to Democrat nonprofits, which then finds its way into Democrat pockets, and bankrolls political contributions, and on and on in a circle it goes.
Using agencies to extract cash for Democrats is worse than letting the guilty go free. So that’s why I say, shrink it down or eradicate the gravy train. As it exists, it hurts us.
Incorrect
The CFPB was probably the most effective US government agency.
They took $0 direct taxpayer $ and returned many multiples of their budget to consumers via enforcement action.
where do you think the money came from if not the taxpayer?
Assessment to banks by the FRB
Lol that is funny
This stuff is publicly available.
“The CFPB is funded outside the traditional congressional appropriations process. The CFPB funds its
operations through monetary transfers from the Fed’s combined earnings.” – Congressional Research Service report, “Financial Services and General Government FY2025 Appropriations: CFPB’s Funding and Structure Provisions,” dated August 21, 2024 (CRS Product IN12409).
The fact that it isn’t funded by congressional appropriations is how a payday lenders association sued (and failed) to have it declared unconstitutional. CFPB won before the Supreme Court.
What all of that means is that the CFPB isn’t funded by taxes.
Where do the “Fed’s combined earnings” come from?
The Fed is a… funny beast. It’s part of the government, while at the same time, outside of the normal government. It’s income comes from lending money (it creates) to other institutions, such as banks, the Treasury, etc., as well as charging fees for its services. (Once again, to banks, Treasury, foreign countries, etc.) Storing gold in the vaults under Manhattan isn’t free! But you can see it as part of a school field trip – look it up!
Also, it has made quite a lot of money from taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (remember them?) back in the Great Recession.
It’s net profit goes to the Treasury every year. Technically, any monies being siphoned off to run the CFPB are, therefore, indirectly paid for by US taxpayers (via the deceased FRB profits sent to Treasury).
Let’s say your right (which I highly doubt) and they sued banks which had to pay out millions in fines – where do you think banks/businesses get money from? It all trickles down to the consumer. A couple of numbers on a PowerPoint never shows the full picture. It shows what they want you to see.
Unelected Elon amassed Billions to drain our dollars for himself on the backs of the common tax payer.
I voted Biden !
You can say what you want about Elon, but he isn’t doing this for the money.
duh,
He is the biggest recipient of Gov Handouts.
I’m not so sure about that, Dan.
He’s targeted agencies that deal with his businesses directly.
Starlink was being investigated by USAID.
Tesla has a finance department in addition to just selling cars and he is trying to turn X into a payment system. In shutting down CFPB he is essentially taking away a government watchdog that would make it easier to recover money for consumers who might be wronged by his businesses.
Dan, as someone who has dealt with this system, you must know that this will only hurt consumers and help the business, hence it is worth more money long-term than anything he would be paid short-term.
You’re making a huge assumption too early: that the useful functions of the CFPB will somehow disappear. There is no evidence to support that. Just like USAID – the good stuff will fold into the already existing State Department.
Agreed!
It is different to say Elon is out for money vs Elon is out for his businesses. Elon is a unique creature. I think it is well known that how he behaves and what he cares about is not at all the same as what you and I care about. I don’t believe for 1 second he is out for money. However, every single business interest he has, he is deeply passionate about. He has specifically chosen his enterprises for for the good of mankind (as he sees it). So you can absolutely say Elon is not doing it for the money, but he is trying to ensure the success of his business ventures. What I don’t know is how self serving he is? Is he like Trump and wants everybody to cheer for him? Or would be be just as happy to be anonymously successful? No idea.
That’s very naive. I mean, yeah, he’s obviously drugged out of his mind and megalomaniac, but also he’s greedy. He’s a bad person who also wants to be more powerful and richer.
X Money would be subject to oversight by the CFPB. He’s definitely doing it for the money. To be more precise, he’s doing it for our money. Will you use X Money knowing that the founder made sure to end the oversight?
You can have valid complaints against Elon and his team or you can post laughable comments like this.
He’s an unelected billionaire doing shady stuff without any oversight, all while lying and promoting Nazis on his website. He’s actively breaking this country. Those are valid complaints
Well Biden lost so that sucks for you…
Sure does for me.
and now it sucks for you too. (if you’re honest about it, instead of insulting me)
How did you vote for Biden if the DNC withdrew him from the race?
you are an Idiot!
Biden wasn’t on the ballot
Parroting an MSM taking point without using any critical thinking. Elon is heading an agency. Did you vote for the head of the FBI? The IRS? The DOJ? No, you voted for none of those. Sit down and please pay more attention.
Parroting an MSM taking point without using any critical thinking. Elon is heading an agency. Did you vote for the head of the FBI? The IRS? The DOJ? No, you voted for none of those. Sit down and please pay more attention.
An agency with a budget that is relatively small by government standards and has saved consumers billions of dollars in the 15 years it’s been in existence, definitely needs to be shut down. Just think of the poor corporations that had to deal with complaints from Dan that they couldn’t just ignore. /s
I’m beginning to think that President Musk doesn’t have our best interests in mind.
Then you clearly don’t know how dirty Elizabeth Warren is… yet. People are so reactionary. The Wise wait and watch before deciding the score of the game before the game has even entered its 2nd qtr.
I concur
As someone who is in an industry that is directly impacted/regulated by the CFPB I can confidently say that this will be a massive loss for US consumers of financial institutions and I daven that Trump and his ilk have their actions overturned.
they will replace it with a board that is answerable to Congress. Stop with that fake tears
lol I have a bridge to sell you. There’s zero chance that they will create something that looks out for the consumer at this point.
Given that Trump is ending Tax on Tips – how does that parallel and support your theory? I believe it does not.
That’s one of many many things he’s babbled about. (along with ‘immediately’ ending inflation, wars etc). No evidence its happening. And if it does, he knows full well that most people don’t declare tip income and thus don’t pay taxes on it. And its up to Congress to change tax law anyway.
That’s awesome. Where can I get more details about this board that will replace the CFPB and handle consumer complaints?
Exactly this. But they are all just going to continue to be super-reactionary because CNN and MSNBC program them how to feel about events, instead of just explaining events.
But Fox and Newsmax don’t do the same on the other side?
Have you examined the scorecard lately?
HUNTER’S LAPTOP
VACCINES HARMFUL
PLANNED-DEMIC
LOCKDOWN
IVERMECTIN WORKS
HCQ WORKS
USELESS FACE MASKS
TWITTER CENSORSHIP
EPSTEIN SEX ISLAND
UKRAINE BIOLABS
CHILD TRAFFICKING
RUSSIAGATE
FAKE STEELE DOSSIER
How many of these hoaxes do you still believe are true?
1. Russia Collusion Hoax
2. Steele Dossier hooker story
3. Russia paying bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan
4. Trump called Neo-Nazis “Fine people.”
5. Trump suggested drinking/injecting bleach to fight COVID
6. Trump overfed koi fish in Japan
7. Trump cleared protestors with tear gas for a bible photo op
8. Hunter’s laptop was Russian disinformation.
9. Elections were fair because no court found major fraud.
10. January 6th was an “insurrection” to overthrow the government
11. Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of The Beast
12. Border Patrol Agents whipped illegal border crossers
13. Trump stored nuclear secrets at Mar-a-Lago
14. Governor Whitmer kidnapping plot
15. Trump mocked a reporter’s disability
The CFPB has gotten me $1,850 of bank bonuses that the banks either refused to pay or took longer to pay than indicated by the terms. I will miss them.
That isn’t the answer to the correct question. The correct question is how much did it cost to get you that $1850? And did it make any difference to how that bank behaves in the future?
This is the problem with everyone reacting in real time. All problems have a solution and of course consumers will have an agency. You can’t run a corrupt agency for the small good (and little of the total money) . It’ll be absorbed somewhere. A little patience will go a long way .
Why do you think that will be the case?
Probably because he likes taking the opposite stance of anything I post.
122 comments, all negative, though this was the least negative of the bunch. 😀
Interesting when you decide to moderate and delete plenty as well. Kindly show me an example of a comment I made that is patently wrong ? I’ll wait. I didn’t realize the goal here is to congratulate you when you post. I have also like everyone else here given you 1000s of dollars of income via credit card referrals. My comments are always on point .
Always appreciate the support and only allowing positive comments would be a very boring goal indeed, which is why we don’t do that.
I have no need for congratulations, but there are many commenters who post both supportive and negative comments, and those make me take their negative ones much more seriously.
When someone only posts negative after negative comment, you can understand why I don’t typically engage. For example, you’re a big fan of Delta miles. I think United miles are better as I’ve explained. Personally I don’t care for your comments like “It’s a riot how you play dumb,” during an honest back and forth but if there’s more substance to the comment, it goes through.
Our commenting policy is straightforward. Constructive posts go through, while posts that don’t add value or just insult or troll/trash are taken on a case-by-case basis.
The vast majority of your comments were published.
The white comment below was constructive and approved, while the moderated ones in yellow below were not, because they were not constructive comments.
Hope that helps clarify it.
Dan, we love you! Don’t let the haters get to you
As Rabi Nachman says, the more things getting in your way and trying to stop you the better what you are doing is… the way things work
Open letter to Dan
Please don’t let haters win, We all very happy that you make money because like that we continue to get great content so please just keep up, the more you post the better,
Your fans
He let u post this one even though it’s beyond rude. U should be embarrassed of yourself.
mark n no one telling you to click on links if you so worry about Dan is getting 1000s dollars of income. I am getting thousands points because Dan is posting information about new credit cards offers. I am taking advantage what Dan posted it. I would also recommend stop counting someone else money.
+1
People are Trump fans with blind eyes and can’t believe there god (trump/musk) does something bad
Because, as early as this is – there is already evidence to support it. For example — USAID as an org is closing down — but many non-fraudulent good programs will continue to operate — just folded into The State Dept. Having one less government bureaucracy, and all each individual one entails – will be a net positive in many ways.
Except consumers didn’t have an agency for this until it was created in 2011.
Some of the cuts will absolutely sting. But $36 trillion dollars of debt stings a lot worse. Debt causes inflation and weakens the dollar, which makes everything you purchase more expensive
I am all for cutting waste but the approach is so ludicrous. In 2 weeks he has found billions of dollars of waste and started cutting wholesale agencies day 1.
Complete your analysis and document all the waste, fraud and abuse. Present your findings seek input from everybody involved in that area and if after hearing all sides you come to the conclusion that you are right and take some action like this it would be much more believable.
ie spend billions and years more on the analysis and let all the corruption remain. LOL. This way is more like ripping the bandaid off. Yeah it will hurt, but it will hopefully get the job done. People can still provide input and if something is important it should still get done. It remains to see how this will all work out. I don’t think anybody will know for a couple of decades at already though.
With a federal deficit of $1.6T, we need to make wholesale cuts. We don’t have the luxury of debating. yes, lots of seemingly good programs have to be cut. And for the bad programs, you can be sure that there will be defenders who say those are good programs too. It never ends in Washington.
They helped me get my money back from capital one. Capital one took Expedia’s side when virgin Atlantic cancelled my flight (and family) during COVID.
OCC helped me in the past as well against bank misdeeds. That can still be an option
A little off topic but maybe someone can help. My tax refund check from 2022 keeps getting stolen in the mail. And the IRS can’t change it to direct deposit since I originally filed it for paper check. Every few months I go through the process of having the new check traced, and turns out someone is cashing it! Any one else have this problem? Or any ideas?
NYC or it’s environs? You are out of luck. USPIS either doesn’t care, or else takes a LONG time to investigate.
Try the Taxpayer Advocate, maybe they can help with the change to DD.
Both sides, lose the political trash talk please. I’m here for the Deals. Create a DDF for this
yawn… wake me up when they target cm$ and defen$e
Why would you put money in a CD??
Who wouldn’t miss it accept bank and billionaire’s?
Those that pay taxes? Those that do business with banks? money for a govt when comes from someone that someone maybe a bank a billionaire – if it cost them guess what – it trickles down to you.
“When a bank miscalculated interest owed to me, a CFPB complaint got that fixed, along with a goodwill credit.”
I’ve never heard of that happening. Anyone else had this happen to them? Should I be calculating all my bank interest myself to make sure I’m actually getting the rate?
BTW, can you say which bank it was?
Large banks have less oversight than the government. If the government investigates someone they know who to talk to. Banks investigate (if they care to) and make decisions that benefit themselves and you can never get to speak to the decision makers or even the investigators. After a runaround from a bank, CFBP helped me recover a five figure sum that was fraudulently wired out of my account. There is perhaps no other agency now to help consumers when banks do the wrong thing AND they often do.
PS the vengeance which Musk is going after CFBP along with his RIP meme, suggests there is something under the surface that is motivating him.
A few months ago my chase business checking account was frozen by Chase, 7 phone calls nothing helped, 1 called to cfbp and within 24 hours my account was back open. I will Miss them!!!!
During the mortgage crisis of 2008, they did zilch. I worked in the field and if we tried to use them when a bank was wrong, they did nothing.
Erm. There was no CFPB in 2008.
What are the other tools a consumer has at their disposal to fight these bank now?
Thanks @Dan for this report, very informative as always!
Where do I file a complaint against AMEX for deleting all my MR points after closing down my account, I have a letter they have sent me at that point that I can reach out and ask to transfer my points up to 90 days from my last Amex CC account closure, and I did that of course, BUT the transfer never take place and my points where eventually deleted, any time a called in my to ask to process that transfer the request was declined due to points expiration.
The points and miles collectors will be affected by the proposed deregulation in that they will see their travel protections (DOT, FTC,CFPB etc) eliminated because they are opposed by Trump, the airlines and hotels. (e.g. tarmac delays, resort fees, cancelled flights, 24 hour flight cancellation). Consumer rights are in the crosshairs of the rich so get ready for a bumpy ride Trump voters! (or a delayed ride).
I’m happy that Trump is being given enough rope. But I wish, when others refer to the national debt, they would mention the last couple presidents who balanced the budget.
You may file a complaint with the FTC, same as before the creation of the CFPB, and additionally with a state equivalent dealing with consumer fraud.
More government isn’t the answer. The harm is caused because the government colludes with the banks against consumers and the CFPB was created to give the illusion of relief for people.
The FTC does not handle individual cases, they say it clearly. They do not respond to your filing. Individual states may or may not, as they handle it differently. You may not agree with more government, but stating that “the CFPB was created to give the illusion of relief” is patently false. It is a documented fact that they have helped many thousands of consumers reclaim an aggregate of billions of dollars.