Contact: Ruth Susswein (301) 718-2511 Linda Sherry (202) 544-3088

Despite the best efforts of CFPB opponents, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is celebrating its fifth anniversary.  Congratulations to the country’s only consumer financial watchdog!

Consumers are now better protected, more informed, more empowered and better able to stand up to high-powered interests that seek only their own financial gain.

The CFPB has provided more than 27 million consumers with $11.7 billion in financial relief, with more than half of it coming from cancelled and reduced debts, as a result of lawsuits and settlements brought by the Bureau.

In the last year alone, the CFPB has helped consumers gain better insight into others’ financial problems and prevent their own by adding context to consumer complaints. Its public complaint database is now filled with first-hand information about the details of consumers’ financial disputes. Consumers who voluntarily share complaint details with the public help guide their peers as they choose financial services.

“These complaint details help educate and empower consumers to prevent future problems while helping the Bureau identify harmful trends and target the worst offenders,” says Linda Sherry, Consumer Action’s director of national priorities.  

Consumer complaints helped regulators direct $80 million in restitution to minority borrowers who were unfairly overcharged on their auto loans.

The CFPB has created tools to help consumers understand student loan repayment options, home loan estimates, retirement benefits and much more.

Each year the CFPB gets closer to its goal to help create a marketplace “where prices are clear up front, risks are visible, nothing is buried in fine print, and everyone plays by the rules.”

Consumer Action salutes the CFPB’s first five years. Happy Birthday!

Consumer Action has been a champion of underrepresented consumers since 1971. A national, nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, Consumer Action focuses on financial education that empowers low to moderate income and limited-English-speaking consumers to financially prosper. It also advocates for consumers in the media and before lawmakers and regulators to advance consumer rights and promote industry-wide change particularly in the fields of credit, banking, housing, privacy, insurance and utilities. www.consumer-action.org

By providing extensive financial education materials in multiple languages, a free national hotline, and payment card surveys, Consumer Action helps consumers assert their rights in the marketplace and make financially savvy choices. More than 8,000 community and grassroots organizations benefit annually from its free, wide-ranging outreach programs, training materials, and support.