The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 gave the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) a special mandate to go after fraudsters who prey on members of the military, taking advantage of many servicemembers’ financial inexperience and frequent relocations, among other points of vulnerability. The agency created an Office of Servicemember Affairs to focus on this piece of work. 

In just three years since the agency has been up and running, the CFPB’s Office of Servicemember Affairs has racked up an impressive record of achievement:

• In July 2014, as a result of a lawsuit filed by the CFPB and 13 state Attorneys General, service members won $92 million in refunds over the sale of computers, videogame consoles, televisions, and other expensive electronic products by a company, Rome Finance, which had concealed illegally high finance charges by artificially inflating the price of the goods.
• In June 2013, the Consumer Bureau ordered U.S. Bank to refund $6.5 million to service members who had been cheated by a deceptive auto loan program. The bank had drawn active-duty soldiers to its Military Installment Loans and Educational Services program while purposefully hiding fees and payment schedules.
• Just last month, the CFPB shut down an exploitative fee scam by USA Discounters, a retail chain located outside many military bases. The company was forced to return $350,000 to servicemembers who had been tricked into paying fees for legal protections they already had and for certain services that the company failed to provide.

Winning settlements with lawbreakers is just part of what the Office of Servicemember Affairs does. For a more comprehensive summary of its work, check out AFR’s new fact sheet, “The CFPB is Standing up for Servicemembers and Veterans.”