Minnesota committee hears testimony on CFPB shutdown risk and state readiness to absorb consumer complaints

The Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee held an informational hearing Feb. 20 to examine recent disruptions at the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and what those changes could mean for Minnesota consumers.

Committee Chair Cline opened the hearing saying the panel wants to “be vigilant to changes at the state and federal level that will impact our work in terms of consumer protection” and to assess potential state responses if the CFPB’s functions are paused.

The hearing brought testimony from Jacqueline Olson, Assistant Commissioner and lead of the enforcement division at the Minnesota Department of Commerce, two public commenters who said the CFPB had directly helped them, and Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Olson told the committee that the Department of Commerce already shares jurisdiction with the CFPB on many consumer issues and will continue its enforcement work. “We do have concurrent jurisdiction with the CFPB on a lot of things,” she said. She summarized Commerce enforcement activity in 2024: the multi-industry team opened about 1,000 investigations, took 36 actions and assessed roughly $2.1 million in civil penalties with $450,000 returned to consumers; the real estate, mortgage and title team opened about 673 investigations and took 53 actions with $630,000 in penalties; and the senior fraud team opened over 1,000 investigations and placed holds on about $7.7…