For Immediate Release: Monday, February 24, 2025
Press Contact: media@consumerfed.org
CFPB Sides with Predatory Lender Over Defrauded Consumers
CFPB permanently dismisses Solo Funds, Inc. from enforcement action as Acting Director Vought attempts to dismantle America’s financial watchdog agency.
February 24, 2025 | WASHINGTON, D.C. — Late Friday afternoon, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau permanently dismissed its enforcement action against Solo Funds, Inc., a fintech provider that facilitates short-term small dollar lending and misrepresented the true cost of its product. This is the first action dismissed by the Bureau’s new administration, which has signalled that it intends to walk away from all of its 38 pending cases. Acting Director Russ Vought praised the dismissal on X, claiming that Solo Funds provided an “innovative solution” and the CFPB’s lawsuit was “wrong.” Consumer Federation of America released this statement today, sharply criticizing the dismissal.
“Solo Funds lied to its customers, plain and simple, and California, Connecticut and Washington D.C., have all also pursued Solo for its clearly fraudulent scheme. Acting Director Vought is putting on political blinders in order to please the President and Elon Musk if he cannot acknowledge these obvious violations of law,” said Erin Witte, CFA’s Director of Consumer Protection. “The 2008 financial crisis was caused by lenders touting ‘innovative’ financial products, and our country is headed for another economic meltdown if we continue to cripple the CFPB.”
Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought—key architect of the right-wing Project 2025 playbook—has further undermined the agency’s mission, refusing to comply with nearly 90 congressional mandates designed to protect consumers and halting 38 pending CFPB enforcement actions. Dozens of staff—including the student loan ombudsman—have been illegally fired, and the agency’s headquarters have been shuttered for weeks.
Background
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is the nation’s top watchdog protecting Americans against predatory lenders and corporate fraudsters. Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have taken over the CFPB, including gaining access to sensitive data and confidential supervisory information that the CFPB gathers from companies in order to keep consumers safe. Vought has also brought the oversight work of the consumer protection agency to a halt, closing the HQ offices and directing staff to stay home.
Created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Congress gave the explicit directives to establish offices and programming dedicated to protecting vulnerable consumers, issue regulations to govern particular industries, and ensure transparent access to information about consumer financial products. Since opening its doors, the CFPB has directly obtained over $21 billion in relief for over 205 million people from companies that illegally cheated consumers. This includes more than $5 billion in relief for Americans with student debt, and uncovering evidence that led to the U.S. Department of Education cancelling $188.8 billion of student debt for 5.3 million borrowers. The CFPB has been hard at work over the last decade and is broadly popular among both Democratic and Republican voters, and the agency has received support across many different sectors.
In addition to returning billions of hard-earned dollars back to the pockets of consumers, the CFPB has issued regulations that promote fairer and more competitive credit markets, and investigated hundreds of businesses that rip off members of the military, students, seniors, and everyday Americans.
Further Reading
SBPC and Consumer Federation of America (CFA) memo identifying 38 active enforcement actions: Trump and Vought Desert Consumers and Working Families Amid Violations by Predatory Financial Companies
SBPC and Consumer Federation of America (CFA) memo identifying 87 congressionally imposed mandates Director Vought is refusing to perform: Advocates Applaud Lawsuits Challenging Trump and Vought’s Corrupt and Unlawful Attempt to “Delete” Consumer Watchdog Agency, CFPB
CFA press release on CFPB workers ordered to stop working: CFA Statement in Response to Announcement That the CFPB Will Halt Supervisory Work
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About Consumer Federation of America
Consumer Federation of America is an association of non-profit consumer organizations that was established in 1968 to advance the consumer interest through research, advocacy, and education.
Learn more at consumerfed.org or follow CFA on Twitter at @ConsumerFed.