Keith Ellison: Why I’m fighting to keep the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau going

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I have an emotional attachment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, and it’s not hard for me to pinpoint where that attachment comes from. Whenever I think of the CPFB and all it does for consumers in Minnesota and across America, I think of my late friend Sharon Tolbert-Glover.

Many knew Sharon as the sparky ex-nun who helped to reopen St. Peter Claver Catholic School in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood. Others knew her as a powerful presence in the Twin Cities civil rights community.

I knew her as a mentor and a friend.

Sharon was surviving on about $2,100 a month with her social security and a small pension from her late husband. Her original mortgage was about $1,200 — so things were tight, but manageable. Then, like the start of so many consumer horror stories, Sharon was approached by some slick-talking liars.

Two mortgage refinance salespeople told Sharon they could lower her monthly payments. She trusted them, but after the papers were signed, her payments went up — first to $1,500 per month, and then to $1,900. This left Sharon with just $200 each month for groceries, medicine and health-related costs.

Sharon’s story made me furious. I wanted to help make sure that what happened to her wouldn’t happen to anyone else. I saw the creation of the CFPB as a key part of that.

The CFPB is Congress’s response to the financial crisis of 2008, which was precipitated by massive irresponsibility and greed in the financial services sector. That crisis caused a recession and led to more than 3 million people’s homes ending up in foreclosure. My neighborhood in north Minneapolis was especially hard hit.

So, I got to work. As a brand-new congressman, I helped organize the congressional field hearing in Minneapolis where Sharon Tolbert-Glover shared her story. I aided in the drafting of the statutory language of the CFPB to stop predatory lending. I voted for and defended the agency as it made its way through Congress, and after it passed I was proud to attend the White House signing ceremony to officially create the CFPB — which, by the way, is the only legal way to launch a new government agency.

The CFPB oversees $18 trillion in consumer lending and makes sure Americans aren’t getting ripped off like they were during the foreclosure crisis. Since its inception, the CFPB has put close to $20 billion back into the pockets of everyday Americans who were ripped off, like Sharon Tolbert-Glover.

Now, with President Donald Trump tearing down the CFPB, I’m defending it once again.

On Feb. 10, employees at the CFPB were abruptly informed that the agency’s headquarters will be closed. Acting Director Russell Vought locked the building and told staff via email to stop working virtually. The net effect is that the CFPB is shut down, prevented from providing oversight over banks, payday lenders and other financial institutions.

And when the lights are off at the CFPB, the scammers and schemers are hard at work.

The CFPB’s consumer complaint system has helped Minnesotans find resources to prevent foreclosure, correct errors in credit reports, reclaim disputed bank deposits, find relief from cryptocurrency scams, and much more.

Right now, it’s not operating.

The CFPB has recovered billions of dollars from student loan companies, big banks and predatory lenders and put them back in the hands of consumers.

Now all of that good work is halted.

The CFPB’s Civil Penalty Fund allocated over $4 million to compensate victims of a deceptive debt-collection company that targeted Minnesotans, but with the fund inactive, it’s not clear if the victims will see another dime of what they’re due.

Maybe worst of all, with the CFPB out of commission, there’s no federal regulator watching over the consumer dealings of large banks — the very banks that triggered the financial crisis of 2008, including some that have been cited again and again for irresponsible, dangerous and illegal dealings.

After all the economic tragedy that made this agency necessary, and after all the amazing work it has done to balance the scales of economic justice, it is outrageous to me that anyone calling themselves a public servant would be willing to shutter the CFPB. That’s why I joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in an amicus brief opposing Trump administration efforts to defund the CFPB.

The CFPB was started to protect ordinary Americans against fraud. No agency does more to help people afford their lives. Without it, we should prepare for the worst. I’ve been protecting the CFPB from the beginning, and I’m ready to protect it now.

Keith Ellison is attorney general of Minnesota.