SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California is expected to create a financial protection watchdog agency by month’s end.
Lawmakers are moving quickly to create the new department of state government because the CFPB has been rendered useless under the Trump administration, according to NPR.
“Consumer protections are an area where California wants to show that we care,” Assemblywoman Monique Limón told NPR. “As the fifth-largest economy in the world we think that it is very important and it’s the right thing to do.”
Under the Trump administration, NPR reported CFPB enforcement is down 80% from 2015, and money returned to consumers has dropped by 96%.
Limon said while the new agency was proposed before the pandemic, given the economic impact, the need for oversight is more important now.
Since the outbreak, she said, complaints about financial wrongdoing have increased in California by 40%. They include disputes about mortgages, personal loans and firms that promise to get consumers out of debt.