ATLANTA, GA, March 7, 2025 — Next week, Georgia Watch will join hundreds of consumer advocates and concerned voters in urging Congress to safeguard the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from efforts to weaken its authority. Advocates from 45 states and the District of Columbia will meet with lawmakers to demand continued support for a strong and independent CFPB.
Created in response to the 2008 financial crisis, the CFPB is the only federal financial regulatory agency devoted exclusively to protecting consumers in the financial marketplace. Consumer complaints submitted to the CFPB Complaints Database play a crucial role in shaping enforcement actions and rulemaking. They ensure that everyday Georgians have a voice in holding financial actors accountable. Since 2011, Georgians have submitted over 515,000 complaints to the CFPB.
Recent proposals to defund or restructure the agency pose a significant threat to essential consumer protections, leaving countless individuals exposed to financial harm and exploitation. Ahead of these congressional meetings, Georgia Watch joined nearly 300 organizations in signing a letter urging the 119th Congress to uphold a strong and independent CFPB and reject any legislative efforts to undermine it.
“The CFPB is a vital protector for consumers,” stated Liz Coyle, Executive Director of Georgia Watch. “Weakening its authority would expose Georgians to coercive financial practices and exploitative tactics, such as hidden junk fees, unfair loan terms, and medical debt abuses. Without these safeguards, consumers would face higher costs and be more susceptible to scams and other monetary harms.”
In Georgia, the CFPB has played a crucial role in eliminating medical debt from credit reports, curbing excessive overdraft fees and promoting fair lending practices. The bureau has set limits on exorbitant fees and penalties and implemented measures to ensure fintech payment apps are supervised to comply with the law and do not facilitate fraud.
“Attempts by Congress to overturn rules governing overdraft fees, medical debt reporting, and payment apps would leave Georgians facing higher costs, greater risks, and fewer avenues for recourse when they are cheated or mistreated by financial institutions,” Coyle added.
By last October, over 300,000 Georgians had received payments issued through the CFPB’s victim relief fund, with total disbursements nearing $150 million. In December, the agency announced it would return more than $103.5 million to 240,000 Georgians who had been unfairly charged excessive fees by a group of credit repair companies. This year, the CFPB ordered Cash App to pay back tens of millions of dollars to thousands of consumers who were victims of scams on the money-sharing app.
Since its launch in 2011, the CFPB has returned more than $21 billion to over 200 million people through restitution and canceled debts. The agency has fought lending discrimination, cracked down on junk fees, and reduced medical debt burdens for 15 million people in the US. However, in recent weeks, these critical consumer protections have been put on hold as acting CFPB Director Russell Vought issued a stop-work order and terminated both probationary and long-term staff members, effectively shutting down the agency’s operations.
# # #
About Georgia Watch
Founded in 2002, Georgia Watch is a statewide, non-profit consumer advocacy organization working to inform and protect Georgia consumers on matters that significantly impact their quality of life, including the effects of predatory business practices, the high cost of utilities and healthcare, and restricted access to the civil justice system. For more information, visit www.georgiawatch.org.
