Trump’s Gutting Of The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Is Leaving The Public Vulnerable To Abuses

ByJeff Kauflin,

Forbes Staff.

T

wo years ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal financial regulatory agency, announced it was forcing Toyota Motor Credit to give consumers back tens of millions of dollars. While selling bundled auto insurance and car-servicing products, Toyota dealers had “lied about whether these products were mandatory” and sneakily included them in contracts without borrowers knowing it, said the CFPB in a press release, citing consumers’ complaints.

Even more maddening, when consumers called Toyota to cancel the unwanted add-ons, representatives had been trained to keep promoting the products until the customer asked to cancel three times. Then customers still couldn’t cancel during those calls–they had to take yet another step and submit a written request. Between 2016 and 2021, Toyota funneled 118,000 calls to this hotline. In 2023, the CFPB ordered the company to give customers back $48 million and pay a $12 million fine for these and other violations.