CFPB Withdraws Numerous Guidance Documents: What You Need to Know

Fair Lending  »  CFPB Withdraws Numerous Guidance Documents: What You Need to Know

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) is undertaking significant action by withdrawing many guidance documents issued since it began operations in 2011. This withdrawal includes a wide range of interpretive rules, policy statements, advisory opinions, and other guidance materials. The withdrawals are applicable as of the date of publication in the Federal Register.

The move represents a significant shift, as the Bureau’s posture is now that agencies should NOT use guidance documents to create new rights or obligations binding on the public. Instead, legally binding requirements should only be imposed through regulations and adjudications after an appropriate process. The Acting Director issued a memorandum on April 11, 2025, prohibiting the improper use of guidance by the Bureau.

Historically, the Bureau has issued guidance in various forms, sometimes adopting interpretations deemed inconsistent with statutory text and imposing additional compliance burdens without notice-and-comment rule making. Again, representing a significant shift, even when guidance might advance a permissible interpretation or allow public input, the Bureau’s CURRENT policy is to avoid issuing guidance except where necessary and where compliance burdens would be reduced rather than increased.

What Changed and Why

Bureau leadership has reviewed guidance documents and determined to withdraw those listed below. This withdrawal is not necessarily final, as the Bureau intends to continue reviewing all guidance to determine if they should ultimately be retained. However, these should not be enforced or otherwise relied upon by the Bureau while the review is ongoing.

The Bureau provided three reasons for withdrawing these guidance materials:

  1. Commitment to issuing guidance only when necessary and when it reduces compliance burdens. The Bureau’s new policy requires reviewing whether guidance is statutorily prescribed, consistent with relevant law, and whether it imposes or decreases burdens. Withdrawing documents provides staff the opportunity for this review.

  2. Reducing enforcement activities in light of deregulation and streamlining directives. The Bureau notes overlap with other regulators and intends to reduce its own enforcement to only statutorily required areas. Withdrawing guidance used for enforcement efforts is seen as not adversely affecting regulated parties.

  3. Absence of compelling reliance interests. The Bureau asserts that parties understand guidance is generally non-binding and does not create substantive rights. Furthermore, the Bureau will de-prioritize enforcement based on withdrawn guidance during the pendency of the review. Guidance that goes beyond relevant law is unlawful, undermining any reliance interest. The Bureau believes the benefits of this withdrawal policy outweigh potential costs to reliance interests.

The Bureau has determined that these guidance materials should be withdrawn and reissued only if necessary and if they reduce compliance burdens.

The items being withdrawn include (4) categories and a total of 66 items. Below is the list of guidance materials that the Bureau is formally withdrawing through this notification:

Guidance Withdrawn:

  • Policy Statements

    1. Policy Statement on No Action Letters, 90 FR 1970 (Jan. 10, 2025)

    2. Policy Statement on Compliance Assistance Sandbox Approvals, 90 FR 1974 (Jan. 10, 2025)

    3. Statement of Policy Regarding Prohibition on Abusive Acts or Practices, 88 FR 21883 (Apr. 12, 2023)

    4. Statement on Enforcement and Supervisory Practices Relating to the Small Business Lending Rule Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B, 88 FR 34833 (May 31, 2023)

    5. Statement on Supervisory and Enforcement Practices Regarding the Remittance Rule in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic (Apr. 10, 2020)

    6. Disclosure of Consumer Complaint Narrative Data, 80 FR 15572 (Mar. 24, 2015)

    7. Disclosure of Consumer Complaint Data, 78 FR 21218 (Apr. 10, 2013)

    8. Disclosure of Certain Credit Card Complaint Data, 77 FR 37558 (June 22, 2012)

  • Interpretive Rules

    1. Use of Digital User Accounts to Access Buy Now, Pay Later Loans, 89 FR 47068 (May 31, 2024)

    2. Limited Applicability of Consumer Financial Protection Act’s ‘Time or Space’ Exception to Digital Marketers, 87 FR 50556 (Aug. 17, 2022)

    3. The Fair Credit Reporting Act’s Limited Preemption of State Laws, 87 FR 41042 (July 11, 2022)

    4. Authority of States to Enforce the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, 87 FR 31940 (May 26, 2022)

    5. Examinations for Risks to Active-Duty Service members and Their Covered Dependents, 86 FR 32723 (June 23, 2021)

    6. Equal Credit Opportunity (Regulation B); Discrimination on the Bases of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, 86 FR 14363 (Mar. 16, 2021)

    7. Bulletin clarifying mortgage lending rules to assist surviving family members (July 8, 2014)

  • Advisory Opinions

    1. Truth in Lending (Regulation Z); Consumer Credit Offered to Borrowers in Advance of Expected Receipt of Compensation for Work, 90 FR 3622 (Jan. 15, 2025)

    2. Fair Credit Reporting; File Disclosure, 89 FR 4167 (Jan. 23, 2024)

    3. Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F); Deceptive and Unfair Collection of Medical Debt, 89 FR 80715 (Oct. 4, 2024)

    4. Fair Credit Reporting; Background Screening, 89 FR 4171 (Jan. 23, 2024)

    5. Truth in Lending (Regulation Z); Consumer Protections for Home Sales Financed Under Contracts for Deed, 89 FR 68086 (Aug. 23, 2024)

    6. Consumer Information Requests to Large Banks and Credit Unions, 88 FR 71279 (Oct. 16, 2023)

    7. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Regulation F); Time-Barred Debt, 88 FR 26475 (May 1, 2023)

    8. Fair Credit Reporting; Permissible Purposes for Furnishing, Using, and Obtaining Consumer Reports, 87 FR 41243 (July 12, 2022)

    9. Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F); Pay-to-Pay Fees, 87 FR 39733 (July 5, 2022)

    10. Equal Credit Opportunity (Regulation B); Revocations or Unfavorable Changes to the Terms of Existing Credit Arrangements, 87 FR 30097 (May 18, 2022)

    11. Fair Credit Reporting; Name-Only Matching Procedures, 86 FR 62468 (Nov. 10, 2021)

    12. Truth in Lending (Regulation Z); Earned Wage Access Programs, 85 FR 79404 (Dec. 10, 2020)

    13. Truth in Lending (Regulation Z); Private Education Loans, 85 FR 79400 (Dec. 10, 2020)

  • Other Guidance

    1. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2024-06: Background Dossiers and Algorithmic Scores for Hiring, Promotion, and Other Employment Decisions, 89 FR 88875 (Nov. 12, 2024)

    2. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2024-05: Improper Overdraft Opt-in Practices, 89 FR 8007 (Oct. 2, 2024)

    3. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2024-04: Whistleblower protections under CFPA Section 1057, 89 FR 65170 (Aug. 9, 2024)

    4. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2024-03: Unlawful and unenforceable contract terms and conditions, 89 FR 51955 (June 21, 2024)

    5. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2024-02: Deceptive marketing practices about the speed or cost of sending a remittance transfer, 89 FR 27357 (Apr. 17, 2024)

    6. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2024-01: Preferencing and steering practices by digital intermediaries for consumer financial products or services, 89 FR 17706 (Mar. 12, 2024)

    7. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2023-03: Adverse action notification requirements and the proper use of the CFPB’s sample forms provided in Regulation B, 89 FR 27361 (Apr. 17, 2024)

    8. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2023-02: Reopening deposit accounts that consumers previously closed, 88 FR 33545 (May 24, 2023)

    9. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2023-01: Unlawful negative option marketing practices, 88 FR 5727 (Jan. 30, 2023)

    10. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2022-07: Reasonable investigation of consumer reporting disputes, 87 FR 71507 (Nov. 23, 2022)

    11. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2022-06: Unanticipated overdraft fee assessment practices, 87 FR 66935 (Nov. 7, 2022)

    12. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2022-05: Debt collection and consumer reporting practices involving invalid nursing home debts, 87 FR 57375 (Sept. 20, 2022)

    13. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2022-04: Insufficient data protection or security for sensitive consumer information, 87 FR 54346 (Sept. 6, 2022)

    14. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2022-03: Adverse action notification requirements in connection with credit decisions based on complex algorithms, 87 FR 35864 (June 14, 2022)

    15. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2022-02: Deceptive representations involving the FDIC’s name or logo or deposit insurance, 87 FR 35866 (June 14, 2022)

    16. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2022-01: System of Consumer Financial Protection Circulars to agencies enforcing federal consumer financial law, 87 FR 35868 (June 14, 2022)

    17. Bulletin 2023-01: Unfair Billing and Collection Practices After Bankruptcy Discharges of Certain Student Loan Debts, 88 FR 17366 (Mar. 23, 2023)

    18. Bulletin 2022-06: Unfair Returned Deposited Item Fee Assessment Practices, 87 FR 66940 (Nov. 7, 2022)

    19. Bulletin 2022-05: Unfair and Deceptive Acts or Practices That Impede Consumer Reviews, 87 FR 17143 (Mar. 28, 2022)

    20. Bulletin 2022-04: Mitigating Harm from Repossession of Automobiles, 87 FR 11951 (Mar. 3, 2022)

    21. Bulletin 2022-03: Servicer Responsibilities in Public Service Loan Forgiveness Communications, 87 FR 11286 (Mar. 1, 2022)

    22. Bulletin 2022-01: Medical Debt Collection and Consumer Reporting Requirements in Connection with the No Surprises Act, 87 FR 3025 (Jan. 20, 2022)

    23. Enforcement Compliance Bulletin 2021-03: Consumer Reporting of Rental Information, 86 FR 35595 (July 7, 2021)

    24. Bulletin 2021-02: Supervision and Enforcement Priorities Regarding Housing Insecurity, 86 FR 17897 (Apr. 7, 2021)

    25. Policy Guidance on Supervisory and Enforcement Priorities Regarding Early Compliance with the 2016 Amendments to the 2013 Mortgage Rules Under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Regulation X) and the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z), 82 FR 29713 (June 30, 2017)

    26. Bulletin 2016-03: Detecting and Preventing Consumer Harm from Production Incentives, 82 FR 5541 (Jan. 18, 2017)

    27. Bulletin 2015-07 re: in-person collection of consumer debt (Dec. 16, 2015)

    28. Bulletin 2015-02 re: Section 8 housing choice voucher home-ownership program (May 11, 2015)

    29. Bulletin 2014-02 re: marketing of credit card promotional APR offers (Sept. 3, 2014)

    30. Bulletin 2014-01 re: FCRA requirement that furnishers conduct investigations (Feb. 27, 2014)

    31. Bulletin 2013-09 re: the FCRA’s requirement to investigate disputes and review “all relevant” information (Sept. 4, 2013)

    32. Bulletin 2013-07 re: prohibition of unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices in the collection of consumer debts (July 10, 2013)

    33. Bulletin 2013-01 re: indirect auto lending and compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Mar. 21, 2013)

    34. Bulletin 2012-09 re: FCRA’s streamlined process requirement for consumers to obtain free annual reports (Nov. 29, 2012)

    35. Bulletin 2012-08 re: implementation of the remittance rule (Regulation E, Subpart B) (Nov. 27, 2012)

    36. Bulletin 2012-06 re: marketing of credit card add-on products (June 27, 2011)

    37. Bulletin 2012-04 re: lending discrimination

    38. Bulletin 2012-02 re: the payment of compensation to loan originators (April 2, 2012)

    39. Bulletin 11-2 re: the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act

Regulated parties should be aware of this withdrawal and refer directly to statutes and regulations for compliance requirements.

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