The CFPB pulled back its explanations of how the debt collection laws apply, but the FDCPA, Regulation F and the Texas Debt Collection Act themselves did not change.
The CFPB withdrew 67 policy statements, interpretive rules, advisory opinions and other guidance documents, effective May 12, 2025, and said it would not enforce or rely on them while it reviews whether to keep any. Debt-related items withdrawn include advisory opinions on pay-to-pay fees (2022), time-barred debt (2023) and medical debt collection (2024), a 2022 circular on nursing-home debts, and a 2022 interpretive rule on FCRA preemption.
- Citation
- 90 Fed. Reg. 20084 (May 12, 2025)
- Court or agency
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Date
- May 12, 2025
- Law
- FDCPA, Regulation F, FCRA
Summary
Acting Director Russell Vought's CFPB withdrew 67 guidance documents in a single Federal Register notice, saying guidance should not impose burdens outside notice-and-comment rulemaking. Several of the withdrawn items had explained how the FDCPA and Regulation F apply to fees, old debts and medical bills. The notice said the withdrawal 'is not necessarily final.'
Background
Besides writing binding regulations, the CFPB has long issued less formal guidance. That includes advisory opinions, interpretive rules, policy statements, circulars and bulletins explaining how it reads the consumer financial laws. Between 2020 and early 2025, several of these addressed debt collection.
In early 2025, the CFPB came under the leadership of Acting Director Russell Vought. On April 11, 2025, he issued a memorandum restricting the Bureau’s use of guidance and directed staff to review all existing guidance.
What changed
On May 12, 2025, the CFPB published a notice withdrawing 67 guidance documents, effective that day. The notice gave three independent reasons, starting with a policy of issuing guidance only where it reduces compliance burdens. It said the withdrawn guidance “should not be enforced or otherwise relied upon by the Bureau” while review continues, and that the withdrawal “is not necessarily final.”
Withdrawn items relevant to debt collection and credit reporting include:
- Pay-to-Pay Fees advisory opinion (87 Fed. Reg. 39733, July 5, 2022): convenience fees for paying by phone or online.
- Time-Barred Debt advisory opinion (88 Fed. Reg. 26475, May 1, 2023): suits and foreclosure threats on time-barred debts, including mortgages.
- Deceptive and Unfair Collection of Medical Debt advisory opinion (89 Fed. Reg. 80715, Oct. 4, 2024): collecting medical bills that are not owed or are inflated.
- Circular 2022-05 (87 Fed. Reg. 57375, Sept. 20, 2022): collecting and reporting invalid nursing-home debts from residents’ family members.
- Bulletin 2022-01 (87 Fed. Reg. 3025, Jan. 20, 2022): medical debt collection and reporting under the No Surprises Act.
- The FCRA’s Limited Preemption of State Laws interpretive rule (87 Fed. Reg. 41042, July 11, 2022), which the CFPB replaced in October 2025 with a rule taking the opposite view.
Our take
Guidance is not law. It is the agency’s view of what the law already requires. Withdrawing it mainly signals what the CFPB will and will not enforce, and it removes a persuasive source that consumers and courts sometimes cited.
The statutes and regulations remain. Regulation F was not part of this withdrawal and still bars FDCPA debt collectors from suing or threatening suit on time-barred debt. The FDCPA still bars collecting unauthorized fees and misrepresenting the amount of a debt. Private plaintiffs and state officials can still enforce those rules.
What it means if you’re sued in Texas
For Texans, the most important protections in a collection lawsuit come from statutes that this withdrawal did not touch. Those include the FDCPA, Regulation F, the Texas Debt Collection Act (Finance Code chapter 392), the four-year limitations period, and the rules of evidence a debt buyer must satisfy to prove its case.
If a collector is charging unexplained fees, suing on an old debt, or demanding payment of a medical or nursing-home bill from a family member who never agreed to pay it, those issues can still be raised. A free case review is available.
Takeaway
Consumers can still make the same legal arguments the guidance supported; they just cannot point to the CFPB's endorsement. Courts decide what the statutes mean.
Sources
Primary authority
- Withdrawal notice (Federal Register, 90 Fed. Reg. 20084)
- Medical debt collection advisory opinion, now withdrawn (Federal Register, 89 Fed. Reg. 80715)
Secondary sources
- CFPB Rescinds 67 Guidance Documents (Holland & Knight)
- CFPB Withdraws Guidance Documents: A Shift Toward Regulatory Restraint (Venable)
This summary and analysis are general information, not legal advice. Later decisions, amendments or agency actions may change the law; check the current status before relying on it.