Enforcement Principles

Addressing Actual Harm to Consumers: CFPB focuses its enforcement on addressing actual harm to consumers. When an institution violates the law and causes real and meaningful harm to consumers, the CFPB uses its enforcement authority to ensure that violations are remedied and consumers are made whole. CFPB will not take action in cases where it believes consumers simply made unwise decisions, or cases involving theoretical or highly speculative harm.

Due Process: All Americans are entitled to know what the rules are before they are enforced against them, and the CFPB will ensure its enforcement actions comport with this basic tenet of due process. CFPB enforcement actions are rooted in a clear grant of statutory authority or a regulation promulgated through notice and comment. The CFPB does not seek to stretch the bounds of its statutory authority through novel interpretations or advance a policy agenda through its enforcement actions.

Collaboration: The CFPB is charged with taking appropriate enforcement action to address violations of Federal consumer financial law, including filing public enforcement actions when appropriate. But not all situations require an adversarial process and the pursuit of an enforcement action. The CFPB seeks to collaborate with institutions to remedy legal violations voluntarily and make consumers whole for any harm they have suffered. Institutions who selfreport violations will not be unnecessarily punished for their candor and willingness to proactively address problems. This approach maximizes the benefit to consumers, and ensures any harm can be addressed quickly, instead of waiting years for the resolution of litigation.  In any event, the CFPB will take no more time than necessary to arrive at a fair resolution that accounts for the interests of consumers, institutions, and the CFPB.

Efficiency: CFPB is committed to maximizing its resources and operating efficiently. In addition to pursuing a more collaborative approach to addressing issues, the CFPB also refrains from engaging in duplicative enforcement work. CFPB does not pursue an enforcement action where the states or other regulators are better suited to do so. CFPB does not undertake such actions, or engage in joint actions, to run up its number of enforcement actions or in pursuit of good press coverage.