Overview
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under the Trump administration has retreated from numerous Biden-era enforcement priorities. One area it has indicated it will prioritize is financial protections for servicemembers.1 Below, we explore the contours of this priority shift and the CFPB's authority to enforce servicemember protections.
CFPB's Enforcement Stance
On April 18, 2025, the CFPB Chief Legal Officer Mark Paoletta released an internal memo to staff stating that the agency would "shift resources away from enforcement and supervision that can be done by the states."2 However, the memo notes that the bureau would focus on protecting servicemembers.3
This is consistent with other recent CFPB announcements. For example, on March 28, 2025, the bureau said it would not prioritize enforcement of penalties and fines under certain provisions of the Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans Regulation. Instead, it would "keep its enforcement and supervision resources focused on pressing threats to consumers, particularly servicemen and veterans."4 It made similar statements reiterating its focus on threats to service members in announcements that it would not prioritize enforcement of Regulation B with respect to certain entities,5 or related to Buy Now, Pay Later loans under the Truth in Lending Act.6
The CFPB has also dismissed or withdrawn more than half of its pending enforcement cases7 and, in one case, sought to vacate a settlement reached under the Biden administration.8 Crucially, however, the CFPB has chosen to continue its lawsuit against fintech lender MoneyLion for alleged violations of the Military Lending Act.9
CFPB Servicemember Protection Enforcement
The CFPB has not brought any new enforcement actions since the change in administration, but it is likely to do so as it did during the previous Trump administration, particularly in connection with the MLA's interest rate cap. In addition, while it does not have direct enforcement authority over the SCRA, it monitors related complaints closely, works with the DOJ, and can use its UDAAP enforcement authority in protecting servicemembers.
MLA Interest Rate Cap
The CFPB's complaint against MoneyLion primarily alleges that the fintech lender "overcharged servicemembers and their dependents, imposing fees that, together with stated interest-rate charges, exceeded the MLA's limit of 36% Military Annual Percentage Rate (MAPR)."10 It also alleges that MoneyLion required covered borrowers to illegally submit to arbitration and failed to make certain loan disclosures required under the MLA.11
Interest rates have consistently been a focus for the CFPB in connection with service member consumer financial protection. While it does not enforce the SCRA, as noted above, the Bureau has consistently addressed interest rate protections related to that statute.12 For example, as part of its consumer education and outreach efforts, the CFPB released a report in 2022 highlighting that only a fraction of eligible service members receive interest rate reduction benefits.13 Both of its webpages discussing the MLA highlight the interest rate caps first and in more detail than the other highlighted protections.14 This is likely to be a key enforcement focus under the Trump administration, as evidenced by the continuation of the MoneyLion case, whose first count alleges violations of the MLA's interest rate cap protections.
UDAAP Violations
The Bureau's complaint against MoneyLion also alleged deceptive acts and practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA).15 Four of the seven counts in the complaint allege unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) in violation of the CFPA, rather than violations of the MLA. These alleged violations include: (1) notifying borrowers that they owed principal and interest on their loan balances, even though the loans were void under the MLA; (2) informing consumers enrolling in membership programs that they could cancel their memberships at any time, though they were not allowed to cancel when they had unpaid loan balances or membership fees; (3) continuing to charge membership fees to customers who are unable to cancel their memberships due to a lack of funds to pay off unpaid loan balances or membership fees; and (4) failing to maintain functional customer service lines, and in some cases continuing to charge membership fees even after loans had been paid off and cancellation requested, because the payments were still "pending."16
These UDAAP counts allege violations similar to those identified by the FTC's Negative Option Rule. The MoneyLion suit demonstrates that the CFPB under the Trump administration is willing to apply these protections with respect to servicemembers.
Conclusions
Financial institutions who service—and especially those that lend to—servicemembers should take particular note of the Trump administration's reaffirmation of its mission to protect servicemembers. The litigation against MoneyLion will likely not be an isolated example.
Steps financial institutions can take include ensuring that their general counsel is familiar with the requirements and protections offered by the SCRA and MLA. In particular, the laws’ respective interest rate caps appear to be especially important compliance concerns. Additionally, UDAAP issues related to disclosures and cancellations are likely to draw scrutiny from the CFPB.
1 The CFPB continues to maintain webpages describing its activities related to the Military Lending Act (MLA) and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). See, e.g., The Servicemember Civil Relief Act (SCRA), Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau (last modified Oct. 19, 2023), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/educator-tools/servicemembers/the-servicemembers-civil-relief-act-scra/; What is covered under the Military Lending Act?, Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau (last modified Jul. 27, 2023), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-covered-under-the-military-lending-act-en-1785/; What are my rights under the Military Lending Act?, Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau (last modified Jan. 12, 2024), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-are-my-rights-under-the-military-lending-act-en-1783/.
2 Kate Berry, CFPB shifts enforcement to states, stops nonbank oversight, American Banker (Apr. 17, 2025), https://www.americanbanker.com/news/cfpb-shifts-enforcement-to-states-stops-nonbank-oversight.
3 Id.
4 CFPB Offers Regulatory Relief for Small Loan Providers, Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau (Mar. 28, 2025), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-offers-regulatory-relief-for-small-loan-providers/.
5 CFPB Keeps Its Enforcement and Supervision Resources Focused on Pressing Threats to Consumers, Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau (Apr. 30, 2025), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-keeps-its-enforcement-and-supervision-resources-focused-on-pressing-threats-to-consumers/.
6 CFPB Announcement Regarding Enforcement Actions Related to Buy Now, Pay Later Loans, Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau (May 6, 2025), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-announcement-regarding-enforcement-actions-related-to-buy-now-pay-later-loans/.
7 Kate Berry, Trump's CFPB has dropped half of all pending litigation, American Banker (May 14, 2025), https://www.americanbanker.com/news/trumps-cfpb-drops-more-than-half-of-all-pending-litigation.
8 CFPB Seeks to Vacate Abusive, Unjust Case Against Townstone, Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau (Mar. 26, 2025), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-seeks-to-vacate-abusive-unjust-case-against-townstone/.
9 Dorothy Atkins, CFPB Won’t Drop MoneyLion Suit Despite Agency Shake-Up, Law360 (Feb. 28, 2025), https://www.law360.com/articles/2304697/cfpb-won-t-drop-moneylion-suit-despite-agency-shake-up.
10 Complaint at 19-20, CFPB v. MoneyLion Technologies, Inc., No. 1:22-cv-8308 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 29, 2022), ECF no. 1.
11 Id. at 20.
12 Office of Servicemember Affairs, supra, note 1.
13 Protecting Those Who Protect Us: Evidence of activated Guard and Reserve servicemembers' usage of credit protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau (Dec. 7, 2022), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/evidence-of-servicemembers-usage-of-credit-protections-under-scra/.
14 CFPB, supra, note 1.
15 Id. at 21-29.
16 Id.
