How a consumer watchdog's power became a liability

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 17 October 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created in 2010 as the legislative response to the Great Recession. It's an aggressive regulator that challenges financial institutions on behalf of consumers. However, the unique power it wields may turn out to be its vulnerability. The bureau's critics take issue with the very tools that give the agency its might and are asking the Supreme Court to make changes. Today, we examine how the CFPB came to be such a powerful regulator and why some want to see the agency overhauled.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	So this one time back in 2011, Philip Glover had a problem with the plumbing at his house.
0:16.7	So we called the company called Rotorouter.
0:19.2	They came and worked on the plumbing a little bit and it kept backing up and backing up
0:24.7	and it never got fixed.
0:26.4	And I had to go to another company, but they wanted to keep billing me.
0:29.6	So they kept billing me.
0:31.0	Wait a minute. What would you do in this situation?
0:32.9	Ugh, give up. I know these things are so hard.
0:35.9	That's how they get you. They just wear you down.
0:38.2	Yes, who cannot relate to this?
0:40.2	Like, do you really want to fight the company or just hay up?
0:44.2	But that is not what Philip did.
0:46.0	As he told our colleagues at the NPR News Show, all things considered,
0:49.8	Philip decided to reach out to what was a new government agency at the time.
0:53.9	Something called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB.
0:58.7	I ended up getting hold of CFPB and they sent them a letter.
1:03.4	And the next time I got a letter from Rotorouter,
1:06.3	it was that they would not be billing me any further.
1:08.5	Later on, when Phil had a billing dispute with Verizon,
1:11.7	he reached out to the CFPB again.
1:14.1	And next thing you know, Verizon backed off.
1:16.9	That agency has leverage and they have lawyers.
	...

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