[14] In April 2018, CFSA, along with the Consumer Services Alliance of Texas, filed a lawsuit against the CFPB, seeking an order and judgment to hold unlawful, enjoin, and set aside the Bureau’s final small-dollar lending rule.
[15] CFSA argued that the Bureau’s rule failed to demonstrate consumer harm from small-dollar loans, ignored unbiased research and data, and relied on flawed information.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that the rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because it exceeds the Bureau’s statutory authority and is arbitrary, capricious, and unsupported by substantial evidence.
[16] In 2014, CFSA and two of its members, Advance America and Check Into Cash, sued the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The plaintiffs alleged that federal regulators from these agencies pressured banks into terminating the accounts of lawful small-dollar lenders under the program known as Operation Choke Point, which targeted industries disfavored by the Obama administration.