Government Raises Fines Because Everything Costs More Now
Published Date: 1/8/2025
Rule
Summary
Starting January 15, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is raising the maximum fines it can charge for breaking certain financial rules to keep up with inflation. This means companies and people who don’t follow the rules might face bigger penalties than before. These changes help make sure penalties stay strong enough to encourage everyone to play fair.
Analyzed Economic Effects
7 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 7 costs, 0 mixed.
CFPB raises civil penalty caps
Starting January 15, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau raises the maximum civil penalties it can impose across its jurisdiction to keep up with inflation. The adjustments use a multiplier of 1.02598 and increase fines for rule-breaking companies and people.
Higher CFPB Tiered Penalties
The CFPB increased its three tiered penalty caps: Tier 1 is now $7,217, Tier 2 is $36,083, and Tier 3 is $1,443,275. These new amounts apply to penalties assessed after January 15, 2025.
Interstate Land Sales penalty increase
For the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, the per-violation penalty rises to $2,515 and the annual cap rises to $2,513,215. These adjusted amounts apply to penalties assessed after January 15, 2025.
RESPA fines rise per failure and cap
Under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the per-failure penalty is now $118, the annual cap is $236,451, and where a failure is intentional the per-failure penalty is $236. These amounts apply to penalties assessed after January 15, 2025.
SAFE Act per-violation increase
The Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing (SAFE) Act penalty per violation is increased to $36,439. This applies to penalties assessed after January 15, 2025.
Truth in Lending penalty increases
For the Truth in Lending Act, the penalty for a first violation is now $14,435 and for subsequent violations is $28,866. These adjusted amounts apply to penalties assessed after January 15, 2025.
Who is covered by the new amounts
The adjusted penalty amounts apply to civil penalties assessed after January 15, 2025, for violations that occurred on or after November 2, 2015.
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