2025 Consumer Protection Federal Priorities

ACCESS TO JUSTICE: Restore Our Day in Court

Our justice system should be open to all.

Stop fine-print forced arbitration clauses, class action bans, and barriers to court access that take away access to justice and prevent us from joining together to fight widespread wrongdoing. 

End the double taxation of successful consumer claims, which turns a winning lawsuit into a loss.

BANKING & PAYMENTS: Keep Our Money Safe

Banks and fintech companies must provide safe access to bank accounts and ensure vulnerable consumers are
not shut out of the banking system.

Stop abusive fees related to bank accounts and payment apps, including overdraft fees and so-called “tips.”

Protect people from fraud and errors in the banking and payments systems.

Require deposit insurance for mobile wallets and all accounts that hold consumer funds.

BANKRUPTCY: A Fresh Start for Working Families

Bankruptcy gives debt-burdened families a chance for a fresh start—all the more essential as household debt has soared to
$17.8 trillion.

Simplify the bankruptcy process and eliminate burdensome requirements that have denied consumers access to bankruptcy relief and led to a 25% increase in insolvency.

Give student loan borrowers, and those struggling with unaffordable criminal justice fines and fees, the same fresh start opportunity as others.

Increase protections so families can declare bankruptcy without losing homes, Earned Income and Child Tax Credits.

CARS: Safe & Affordable Vehicles & Financing

Cars are essential for families’ physical and economic mobility, yet the high cost of cars and financing creates
economic hardships and risks.

Ban financing that is more lucrative for creditors when the buyer defaults.

Reduce repossessions by allowing people to catch up on what they owe before a car is repossessed.

Require a cooling-off period for sale of add-on products such as window etching and service contracts.

Ensure consumers are not sold cars with unperformed
safety recalls or other safety defects.

Promote car ownership programs that provide safe and affordable financing and cars, including electric vehicles.

Collect sales and finance data to understand and reduce abuse and discrimination.

CFPB & FTC: Protect Our Consumer Watchdogs

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission enforce the law and combat unfair, deceptive and abusive practices to keep the economy fair. But court decisions threaten both agencies.

Protect the CFPB’s funding and independence.

Restore the FTC’s power to make wrongdoers compensate victims.

CREDIT REPORTS: Stop Errors & Abuses

Credit reports, background checks, and tenant screening reports are full of errors and reinforce racial disparities.

Enact comprehensive reform, including improving accuracy and dispute investigations, shortening time periods for negative information, and limiting the use of credit reports
for jobs and tenant screening.

Create a public credit registry that is designed to be responsive to consumer needs and equity concerns.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Disarm the Poverty Trap

Unaffordable fines and fees trap families in poverty and the criminal justice system, and harm communities of color.

End debtors’ prisons and require private collectors of state and local government debt to comply with fair debt collection.

Stop private profiteering that imposes extortionate costs on justice-involved individuals and their families.

Incentivize state and local governments to reduce fines and fees and end debt-based driver’s license suspensions that prevent people from getting to work.

Motivate states to eliminate criminal justice debt as a barrier to record clearing to enable access to jobs and housing.

DEBT & DEBT COLLECTION: Protect Consumers from Abusive Collection Practices

Debt collectors are a top source of consumer complaints, with alleged debts in collection impacting tens of millions.

Protect wages, bank accounts, the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits, and Social Security benefits from garnishment or offset.

Increase and enforce financial assistance requirements for
medical providers, require reporting of collection practices, and prohibit abusive collection practices.

Prohibit deceptive or illegal practices by medical payment products like medical credit cards.

Stop nursing home debt collection against third parties.

Strengthen the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and
Regulation F.

ENERGY, TELECOM & ROBOCALLS: Keep Vulnerable Consumers Connected

More than 1 in 4 households reports challenges paying energy bills. Households suffer from the digital divide and robocalls.

Protect consumers from unaffordable energy bills and utility disconnections during extreme weather and all year. Support
expansion of programs such as the Low Income Home
Energy Assistance Program, the Weatherization Assistance Program, and Inflation Reduction Act rebates and incentives
for low-income consumers.

Ensure that families can afford their utilities including broadband and voice service and can access affordable weatherization, energy efficiency and renewable energy
without exposure to risky financing.

Strengthen programs to connect households to the internet and shrink the digital divide.

Protect people from telemarketing and scam robocalls and texts, and ensure the TCPA remains an effective remedy.

EQUITY & RACIAL JUSTICE: Defend & Enforce Our Laws

Discriminatory practices in the financial services industry threaten the prosperity of families.

Strengthen disparate impact standards and the duty to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing, and enforce fair lending
and fair housing laws vigorously.

Require financial service companies to provide language access for borrowers with limited English proficiency.

Preserve the collection of race and ethnicity data and require loan-level data.

Ensure use of emerging Artificial Intelligence technologies in financial products and services is not biased or discriminatory
and complies with fair lending and consumer protection laws.

HOUSING: Ensure Access to Sustainable  Homeownership

High housing costs disproportionately impact Black and Latino homeowners and require equitable hardship assistance and loan financing options.

Enable struggling homeowners to access affordable home-saving options, especially for FHA and VA loans and for heirs property owners. Strengthen loan sale protections. Expand access to mortgage performance data.

Establish streamlined procedures for homeowners to access foreclosure avoidance programs.

Promote small dollar mortgage loans and ensure abusive products such as PACE loans and land contracts are subject to federal mortgage rules. Clarify that home equity
investment products are subject to mortgage laws.

HIGH-COST CREDIT: Limit Interest Rates and Stop Fintech Evasions

Interest rate limits are the most effective protection against predatory lending and should cover all forms of credit.

Extend the 36% interest rate cap that protects active duty servicemembers to all consumers, with much lower rate caps for large loans.

Stop evasions of federal and state lending laws through rent-a-bank lending, fake tribal lending, and fintech credit products like earned wage advance loans, where workers pay to be paid.

RENTERS: Help Struggling Families Secure & Maintain Housing

Junk fees, rental debt, and tenant screening add to the burden of families trying to rent decent, affordable housing.

Ban unfair junk fees that add to skyrocketing rents.

Stop tenant screening reports from blocking families, especially renters of color, from securing decent housing.

STUDENT LOANS: Lift the $1.7 Trillion Weight from Consumers’ Shoulders

The financial security of tens of millions of American families is threatened by unaffordable student loan debt.

Discharge old and uncollectible federal student loan debts and extend expiring protections against taxation of canceled student loan debt.

Ensure access to affordable income-driven repayment and a path to being debt-free for all borrowers.

End punitive default and debt collection practices and
limit collection to the amount borrowers would owe in
repayment plans.

Stop predatory and low-value programs from receiving federal dollars and provide relief to harmed borrowers.

Increase oversight and accountability of federal servicers and contractors that manage student loans and stop contracting with poor performers.