D.C. Federal Court Dismisses Lawyer, Service Provider Challenge to CFPB Probe

CFPB Enforcement Single-Director Structure

On October 17, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the CFPB’s motion to dismiss an attorney and service provider’s lawsuit challenging the authority of the CFPB.  The court declined to exercise jurisdiction in the case and did not reach the merits of the service provider’s constitutional challenge.  The court agreed with the CFPB’s argument that the service provider could obtain complete relief on its constitutional claim in an enforcement action currently pending in the Central District of California, and thus, injunctive and declaratory relief in the D.C. District Court was inappropriate.  The court also held that the attorney, who is not a party to the Central District of California action, lacked standing to raise her claim, because she had failed to demonstrate a substantial probability of being forced to produce privileged information to the Bureau.