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FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A damning new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found “Unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices across many consumer financial products.” Among the findings: shady auto lenders who charged fraudulent interest on inflated loan balances, and payday lenders who engaged in deceptive and illegal collection tactics. While this kind of gross consumer mistreatment is nothing new for the auto dealer and predatory lending industry, powerful conservatives in Congress like House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) have used their power to shield these industries from accountability by obstructing the CFPB’s successful work on behalf everyday Americans. 

Wall Street yes-man Patrick McHenry, who has eagerly taken nearly $190,000 from the payday industry (the third most of any sitting member of Congress) and tens of thousands from the auto dealer industry, recently filed an amicus brief in favor of a lawsuit before the Supreme Court brought by the predatory payday loan industry that seeks to gut the popular CFPB by striking down its independent funding structure – a transparent effort to bring an end to the agency and leave millions of consumers vulnerable to bad financial industry behavior. 

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Will Chairman McHenry ignore the latest wave of fraudulent and abusive behavior from his biggest financial industry donors, like always? It seems shady auto dealers and predatory lenders that scam and cheat vulnerable families are good in McHenry’s book as long as the industry checks keep coming in,” said Liz Zelnick, Director of Accountable.US’ Economic Security & Corporate Power.

“McHenry and MAGA Republicans that can’t get enough industry money would rather go after the financial regulators on the beat returning billions of dollars to wronged consumers, not the crooks.”

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