Jul 18, 2025 Featured Videos
Rohit Chopra, former Director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, discusses the broader impact of a recent federal ruling on medical debt reporting.
A federal judge in Texas eliminated a Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule barring medical debt from credit reports and lending decisions, handing a win to credit reporting companies and the Trump administration.
“The Medical Debt Rule exceeds the Bureau’s statutory authority,” Judge Sean D. Jordan of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas said in a Friday ruling.
The CFPB under the leadership of acting Director Russell Vought moved to vacate the rule alongside industry plaintiffs the Consumer Data Industry Association and the Cornerstone Credit Union League, a Texas credit union trade group.
Jordan had subsequently allowed the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, Tzedek DC, and other consumer groups to step in and defend it.
The CDIA, which represents major consumer credit reporting companies, and the CFPB argued that the agency under former Director Rohit Chopra exceeded its authority in banning the reporting of medical debt on credit reports.
“America’s financial system is the best in the world because it is based on a full, fair and accurate credit reporting system,” Dan Smith, the CDIA’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Information about unpaid medical debts is an important element in assessing a consumer’s ability to pay.”
The consumer advocate intervenors said they are evaluating their next steps.