By Douglas Gillison (Reuters) – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which President Donald Trump has moved to abolish, told a court on Friday it was dropping a lawsuit against the online lending platform Solo Funds, which the agency had earlier accused of deceiving borrowers about the cost of loans. The case, which the CFPB […]
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Under Trump, consumer watchdog drops case against online lender
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By Douglas Gillison
(Reuters) – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which President Donald Trump has moved to abolish, told a court on Friday it was dropping a lawsuit against the online lending platform Solo Funds, which the agency had earlier accused of deceiving borrowers about the cost of loans.
The case, which the CFPB filed less than a year ago in federal court in Los Angeles, appeared to be the first to be withdrawn since the Trump administration took over the consumer watchdog agency earlier this month, freezing activities, firing scores of workers and removing the agency’s insignia from its Washington headquarters.
Since 2023, several state attorneys general had also taken action against the agency over similar allegations.
Representatives for the CFPB and Solo Funds did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to the CFPB, the company misrepresented the costs of loans, tricked them into making “donations” that were actually optional, made false threats and attempted to collect funds customers did not actually owe, among other allegations — claims the company rejected in court papers.
A motion that both sides filed together on Friday said the action would be completely dismissed, with each side covering their own legal costs.
(Reporting by Douglas Gillison; Editing by Alistair Bell)