Latest news with #EricHalperin
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Consumer Bureau Official Quits, Citing ‘Attack' on Agency's Mission
Cara Peterson, the acting head of enforcement for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, quit on Tuesday after sending a fiery email to her department denouncing the Trump administration's efforts to gut the watchdog agency. 'I have served under every director and acting director in the bureau's history and never before have I seen the ability to perform our core mission so under attack,' wrote Mr. Peterson, who had worked at the agency since its creation in 2011. The consumer bureau, the only federal regulator and enforcer of consumer financial protection laws, has been fighting for its survival since President Trump installed Russell T. Vought, the White House budget office director, as the agency's acting leader in early February. Congress created the bureau, and only Congress can close it, but Mr. Vought has halted nearly all of its work and sought to fire 90 percent of its staff. Court orders have temporarily paused the firings, but much of the agency's staff is on administrative leave. Ms. Peterson became the agency's acting head of enforcement after the previous enforcement leader, Eric Halperin, resigned in February with his own scathing email. Since then, Mr. Vought has abandoned and dismissed most of the bureau's enforcement cases, including major lawsuits against large banks over fraud on their payments apps and deceptive tactics that deprived customers of higher interest rates on their savings accounts. He also terminated several settlement deals, allowing companies to keep money they had agreed to pay in penalties and customer refunds. Last month the agency terminated an order that required Toyota to refund $48 million to customers the carmaker had prevented from canceling unwanted insurance products. 'It is clear that the bureau's current leadership has no intention to enforce the law in any meaningful way,' Ms. Peterson wrote in her farewell email. 'While I wish you all the best, I worry for American consumers.'
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The CFPB just dropped a bunch of its own lawsuits as the agency's future hangs in limbo
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau abruptly dropped five of its own lawsuits against companies it had accused of victimizing customers on Thursday as the political and legal battle over the Trump administration's efforts to radically downsize the agency raged on. The abandoned cases included actions against major corporate names such as Capital One Financial, the country's ninth-largest bank, and the real estate referral site Rocket Homes. Others targeted a major student loan servicer and a pair of consumer lenders. Activity at the CFPB has been largely frozen thanks to a stop-work order by Trump officials, who appear to be targeting the watchdog for potentially crippling cuts. Last week, it dismissed a case against the online lender SoLo Funds, raising concerns among Democrats and consumer advocates that the administration might begin unwinding much of the agency's legal docket. 'There are certainly indications that they intend to dismiss a large number of cases, if not all cases,' said Eric Halperin, who resigned as the CFPB's head of enforcement earlier this month after serving in the Biden administration. He noted that the agency had canceled its contracts with expert witnesses, who are essential to proving cases in court, while its work stoppage has made it impossible to move suits forward. CFPB lawyers did not explain their decision to drop the cases in their court filings, and the agency did not respond to a request for comment. All five cases were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they could not be revived in the future. The moves are in some ways unprecedented for the agency. Until this month, the CFPB had only ever dismissed one of its own lawsuits without first obtaining some sort of relief for consumers, former officials told Yahoo Finance. That occurred under the first Trump administration in 2018, when then-acting Director Mick Mulvaney ended a suit against the payday lender Golden Valley Lending. The case, however, was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could have in theory been brought again. Several of the suits that the CFPB moved to end on Thursday were filed under former Director Rohit Chopra after Trump's November election victory. The regulator sued Rocket Homes in December, alleging that it had illegally provided real estate agents with kickbacks in order to steer customers toward its sister lender, Rocket Mortgage. In early January, it sued Berkshire Hathaway-owned Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance, a mobile home lender it accuse of illegally trapping customers in loans they couldn't afford to pay. The CFPB filed its case against Capital One less than a week before Trump's inauguration, claiming the bank had cheated customers out of $2 billion by advertising a high-yield savings account that in fact paid very little interest. Republicans and industry groups had criticized the timing of those suits as politically motivated, arguing that Chopra was attempting to bring controversial cases at the last moment before the new administration could have a chance to replace him atop the agency. Many expected that those suits might be dropped. But not all of the cases the agency has dismissed were filed during the lame duck. On Thursday it moved to scrap a May lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, a student loan servicer it accused of collecting on debts that had been discharged in bankruptcy. It also ditched an August 2023 case against Heights Finance, a high-cost installment lender the agency said had abused borrowers. In theory, some states attorneys general could try to file their own modified versions of the dismissed lawsuits, since they're statutorily empowered to enforce the same consumer laws as the CFPB. But it's unclear how many would have the manpower or resources to do so. The move to drop cases comes amid a high-stakes legal battle over the CFPB's future. Last week, a federal judge temporarily blocked Acting Director Russell Vought from laying off any additional staff, after a union representing the agency's employees filed suit claiming he planned to fire as much as 95% of its workforce. In a filing this week, Vought claimed he simply intended to run a 'more streamlined and efficient bureau' capable of meeting its 'statutory responsibilities.' The CFPB, which was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act in response to the housing bust and financial crisis, has long been a target for Republican critics, who've accused it of using heavy-handed tactics and stretching its legal authority. But it has become a particular focal point for Elon Musk and his DOGE push; the billionaire has said he wants to 'delete' the CFPB. On Thursday, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren pushed Jonathan McKernan, Trump's nominee to permanently head the bureau, on whether the agency would continue to enforce the law under his leadership. "I'm fully committed to following the law fully and faithfully. That includes each of the statutes,' he said. Jordan Weissmann is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Top CFPB officials resign
Two top officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stepped down Tuesday, saying they could no longer carry out their roles in light of the Trump administration's order to cease all work at the agency. Assistant Director for the Office of Enforcement Eric Halperin and Assistant Director for Supervision Policy Lorelei Salas each sent emails to their teams notifying them of their resignations. 'As you know we have been ordered to cease all work,' Halperin wrote to his staff in an email reviewed by POLITICO. 'I don't believe in these conditions I can effectively serve in my role, which is protecting American consumers. Today I made the difficult decision to resign effective today,' he added. 'I know you are concerned about your futures, the future of the bureau, and more importantly, the impact these sweeping changes will have on everyday consumers, on all of us,' Salas wrote in the memo to supervision staff reviewed by POLITICO. The CFPB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US consumer watchdog's enforcement, supervision heads announce resignation
(Reuters) - The top officials for enforcement and supervision at the embattled U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau tendered their resignations on Tuesday, citing the decision by President Donald Trump's administration to halt all activity at the agency, according to internal emails seen by Reuters. "As you know we have been ordered to cease all work. I don't believe in these conditions I can effectively serve in my role, which is protecting American consumers," said Enforcement Director Eric Halperin. "Today I made the difficult decision to resign effective today."
Politico
11-02-2025
- Business
- Politico
Top CFPB officials resign
Two top officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stepped down Tuesday, saying they could no longer carry out their roles in light of the Trump administration's order to cease all work at the agency. Assistant Director for the Office of Enforcement Eric Halperin and Assistant Director for Supervision Policy Lorelei Salas each sent emails to their teams notifying them of their resignations. 'As you know we have been ordered to cease all work,' Halperin wrote to his staff in an email reviewed by POLITICO. 'I don't believe in these conditions I can effectively serve in my role, which is protecting American consumers. Today I made the difficult decision to resign effective today,' he added. 'I know you are concerned about your futures, the future of the bureau, and more importantly, the impact these sweeping changes will have on everyday consumers, on all of us,' Salas wrote in the memo to supervision staff reviewed by POLITICO. The CFPB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
