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On July 28, 2022, three Republican members of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee wrote to the CFPB noting that “[w]hile Congress intended for the CFPB to enforce federal consumer financial laws and protect consumers in the marketplace, it did not intend for the CFPB to intimidate companies by conspiring with state agencies to pursue duplicative enforcement actions.” The letter also asks for information from the Bureau relating to a May 19, 2022, interpretive rule on state enforcement.
On May 19, 2022, the CFPB issued an interpretive rule that, according to the CFPB,
describes states’ authorities to pursue lawbreaking companies and individuals that violate the provisions of federal consumer financial protection law. Because of the crucial role states play in protecting consumers, the Consumer Financial Protection Act grants their consumer protection enforcers the authority to protect their citizens and otherwise pursue lawbreakers.
The GOP letter to the Bureau noted that while “[i]t t is clear that state attorneys general may enforce the CFPA in cases where the CFPB has not. But the statute does not allow for a state attorney general to become a party to an existing CFPB enforcement action. It is therefore inappropriate for the CFPB to recruit a state attorney general that is not otherwise investigating a company, to pursue enforcement as a means of intimidation.”
The letter ended by requesting that the Bureau provide to the members, responses to questions and documents that went into the development of the interpretive rule, and other related matters.
U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the ranking member of the committee; U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions; and U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.