To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to clarify standards for UDAAP enforcement actions brought by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill significantly limits the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau CFPB ability to enforce consumer protection rules against financial companies. It requires the CFPB to clearly define what counts as an abusive practice, conduct cost-benefit analyses before issuing rules, and give companies a chance to fix problems before being penalized.
Who Benefits and How
Financial institutions banks, lenders, credit card companies, fintech firms benefit substantially. They gain: 1 a good faith effort defense that shields them from monetary penalties, 2 a 180-day cure period to fix violations before facing enforcement, 3 protection from civil penalties for conduct before their last compliance rating, and 4 restrictions on the CFPB claiming the same conduct is both abusive and unfair or deceptive.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Consumers may face reduced protection from predatory financial practices as the CFPB enforcement tools are constrained. The CFPB itself faces new procedural requirements including mandatory rulemaking within 180 days, cost-benefit analysis requirements, and venue limitations for enforcement actions.
Key Provisions
- Requires CFPB to formally define abusive act or practice through rulemaking within 180 days
- Creates a good faith effort defense that blocks monetary penalties against companies that tried to comply
- Gives companies 180 days to cure violations after self-identifying problems before CFPB can take legal action
- Prohibits CFPB from using UDAAP authority to address discriminatory practices
- Limits civil penalties to conduct occurring after the most recent compliance rating
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Restricts the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau CFPB authority to enforce unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices UDAAP rules by requiring clearer definitions, limiting enforcement mechanisms, and providing safe harbors for financial institutions.
Key Policy Areas
Consumer Protection, Financial Regulation, Banking
Primary Purpose
Restricts the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau CFPB authority to enforce unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices UDAAP rules by requiring clearer definitions, limiting enforcement mechanisms, and providing safe harbors for financial institutions.
Policy Domains
Consumer Financial Protection Act Amendments
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Banks and credit unions
- Consumer lenders
- Credit card companies
- Fintech companies
- Mortgage servicers
- Debt collectors
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Consumer advocacy groups
- Consumers harmed by financial practices
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Barr introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Banks and credit unions, Banks and financial institutions, Banks with compliance ratings
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_bureau"
- → Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection CFPB
- "covered_person"
- → Financial services companies subject to CFPB oversight
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
To be defined by CFPB rulemaking within 180 days; currently requires intentional material interference with consumer understanding OR taking unreasonable advantage of consumer lack of understanding combined with reasonable reliance on covered person representations
A defense established by preponderance of evidence that shields covered persons from monetary relief under UDAAP enforcement
Conduct causing substantial injury not reasonably avoidable disclosure creates presumption of avoidability and not outweighed by benefits to consumers or competition
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology