Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau v. Source for Pub. Data, L.P.
Opinion
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a civil investigative demand (CID) to the Source for Public Data, Inc., a company that provides public records to the public through an Internet-based search engine. Public Data objected to the CID for, among other things, failing to comply with the statute authorizing the CFPB to issue these demands. The CFPB eventually filed a petition to enforce the CID, and the district court granted the petition. Because the CFPB did not comply with the governing statute when it issued the CID, we now REVERSE and RENDER.
I.
Congress created the CFPB to "regulate the offering and provision of consumer financial products or services under the Federal consumer financial laws."
*458 The CFPB issued a CID to Public Data. The CID's "Notification of Purpose" read:
The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether consumer reporting agencies, persons using consumer reports, or other persons have engaged or are engaging in unlawful acts and practices in connection with the provision or use of public records information in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act,15 U.S.C. §§ 1681 , et. seq., Regulation V, 12 C.F.R. Part 1022, or any other federal consumer financial law. The purpose of this investigation is also to determine whether Bureau action to obtain legal or equitable relief would be in the public interest.
The CID required Public Data to produce documents, provide answers to interrogatories, and produce a written report.
During a meet-and-confer with the CFPB, Public Data asserted that the Notification of Purpose was inadequate. It also insisted that the CFPB did not have jurisdiction over Public Data. Public Data then filed a petition with the CFPB to set aside the CID. The CFPB's Director denied the petition in a written order. Public Data confirmed with the CFPB that it did not intend to comply, so the CFPB filed a petition in federal court seeking an order to enforce the CID.
The district court granted CFPB's petition. It rejected Public Data's argument that the CID failed to provide fair notice of the violation under investigation as required by
II.
We review a subpoena enforcement order for abuse of discretion.
United States v. Zadeh
,
III.
An administrative agency's authority to issue subpoenas is a creature of statute.
Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau v. Accrediting Council for Indep. Colleges & Schs. (ACICS)
,
The CFPB did not comply with
Moreover, this CID does not identify "the provision of law applicable to such
*459
violation." As discussed, the CID never identifies an alleged violation, so it is unsurprising that it fails to identify a relevant provision of law. Rather, the Notification of Purpose refers to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, an expansive law governing all activities relating to the reporting of consumers' credit information. Such a reference to a broad provision of law that the CFPB has authority to enforce does nothing to clarify what conduct is under investigation. Then, the Notification of Purpose states that the CFPB is investigating the violation of "any other federal consumer financial law." Such an uninformative catch-all phrase defeats any specificity provided by the reference to the FCRA.
2
See
ACICS
,
The D.C. Circuit recently rejected a CID like this one.
See
ACICS
,
There are consequences to the "absurdity of giving a notification that notifies of no purpose whatsoever."
Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau v. Heartland Campus Sols., ECSI,
No. 18-1516, --- Fed.Appx. ----, ----,
Simply put, the CFPB does not have "unfettered authority to cast about for potential wrongdoing."
In re Sealed Case (Admin. Subpoena)
,
IV.
For the reasons above, we hold that the CFPB failed to advise Public Data of "the nature of the conduct constituting alleged violation which is under investigation and the provision of law applicable to such violation." 12 U.SC. § 5562(c)(2). Accordingly, we REVERSE and RENDER. 3
According to the parties, this case does not implicate the issues raised in
PHH Corporation v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
,
This catch-all would presumably include the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Billing Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Truth in Savings Act, the Consumer Leasing Act of 1976, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975, just to name a few.
See
Because we reverse the district court's order based on the CFPB's failure to comply with
Reference
- Full Case Name
- CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. the SOURCE FOR PUBLIC DATA, L.P., Defendant - Appellant.
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published