CFPB wins rare judgement over student loan debt relief firm

WASHINGTON — A federal judge has ordered a now-defunct debt relief provider to pay roughly $43 million in restitution over a case brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, alleging that the firm deceived student borrowers. 

The CFPB originally filed the lawsuit in 2020 against FDATR Inc. and its owners Dean Tucci and Kenneth Wayne Halverson. Halverson has since passed away. The bureau said in the lawsuit that FDATR, Tucci and Halverson violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, alleging that the company misrepresented its debt relief and credit repair services to consumers with student loans. 

U.S. District Judge Georgia N. Alexakis ordered that Tucci must pay $2.1 million in restitution and a $41.1 million civil penalty. 

“The Court finds that the Bureau’s calculation of the civil money penalty is more than reasonable and is supported by the statute and record evidence,” Judge Alexakis wrote in the May 1 order.

The ruling represents a rare follow-through on consumer protection enforcement initiated before the Trump administration took office. The administration and the Department of Government Efficiency have made aggressive moves to effectively shutter the CFPB since taking office in January.

Tucci’s legal team attempted to capitalize on the changing regulatory environment, filing a motion to dismiss the case for “want of prosecution” due to what they characterized as an “effective shutdown of the [bureau]” under President Trump’s administration. Judge Alexakis rejected this argument, noting there was “no such record” of delay or misconduct that would justify such a dismissal.

The CFPB under President Trump’s administration has withdrawn from multiple high-profile enforcement actions against financial firms in recent months. The bureau has, for example, just recently dropped lawsuits against Comerica Bank, Reliant Holdings and auto lender Credit Acceptance. 

The CFPB’s shift in enforcement comes after Trump promised to reduce regulatory burdens on businesses and banks, and to entirely dismantle the CFPB. Russell Vought, who currently leads the bureau on an acting basis, has tried to lay off the bulk of the CFPB’s enforcement and supervisory staff. 

The FDATR case was a rare exception that Vought ordered enforcement attorneys at the bureau to continue pursuing.