New NCLC Article Analyzes Impact of the CFPB’s Withdrawal of 67 Guidance Documents
WASHINGTON – Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) withdrew dozens of guidance documents related to interpretations of laws governing consumer credit, lending, banking, debt collection, and other important consumer issues. Attorneys at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) emphasized that consumer protection laws remain intact and that the CFPB’s prior interpretations still carry force.
“The law is still the law,” said Diane Thompson, deputy director and chief advocacy officer at the National Consumer Law Center. “Companies must continue to follow the law or run the risk of private litigation, with or without guidance from the CFPB. And consumer lawyers can continue to look to the CFPB’s prior guidance for its persuasive value and legal reasoning.”
The NCLC analysis appears in a new article, Continued Vitality of 67 Withdrawn CFPB Guidance Documents. It finds that there are no changes to underlying statutes, regulations, or official interpretations of regulations. As the CFPB acknowledged, in its short, conclusory notice, the main impact of withdrawing the guidance documents is that the CFPB will no longer rely on the 67 guidance documents in enforcing the law. But courts may still consider the CFPB’s prior interpretations as they assess what the law requires.
The CFPB also withdrew policy statements as far back as 2012 explaining the basis for providing public access to the CFPB complaint database and complaint narratives, perhaps signaling the CFPB’s intent to stop making the complaints publicly available. Currently, the CFPB complaint database is still live and searchable on the CFPB’s website. NCLC’s article advises advocates who use the database that the Internet Archive periodically backs up the CFPB complaint database. The Internet Archive site will not maintain the current search functions maintained by the CFPB, which are important to the public’s ability to see and engage with the data. Information about new complaints received and processed by the CFPB in accordance with their statutory obligation will still be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests.
The NCLC article provides a list of the 67 withdrawn guidance documents organized by the applicable federal statute, along with links for further discussion of the guidance documents in NCLC’s consumer law treatises in the NCLC Digital Library. The withdrawn guidance documents relate to: the Fair Credit Reporting Act (13 documents); the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (6); Truth in Lending (10); Equal Credit Opportunity Act (8); Electronic Funds Transfer Act and remittances (4); the Real Estate Procedures Settlement Act (2); and the Interstate Land Sales Act (1). Sixteen guidance documents concern the CFPB’s standards in enforcing the law against unfair, deceptive or abusive actors or practices, and 12 concern other aspects of the Consumer Financial Protection Act.
Related Resources
- CFPB Order Rescinding Guidance
- NCLC Digital Library
- Press release: House Panel Votes to Eviscerate Consumer Watchdog, Siding With Fraudsters and Cheats, May 1, 2025
- Press release: CFPB Begins Firings and Ends Oversight of Nonbanks, Big Tech, and Critical Consumer Protection Areas, April 17, 2025
- Issue brief: Legislative Attacks on CFPB Erode Mandatory Funding, Compromise Independence, Weaken Integrity, and Roll-back Protections, Feb. 24, 2025
Support NCLC
Please support NCLC's work to advance consumer rights and economic justice with a tax-deductible contribution today!
Donate