The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) “has become an indispensable agency for protecting the legal rights of servicemembers, veterans, and their families,” according to a MOAA-backed court brief filed on the winning side of a recent 7-2 Supreme Court decision which rescued the bureau from an uncertain future.

But beyond the words of support – the full brief is online here – are the tangible results from the CFPB’s efforts on behalf of the uniformed services community. Some of these results were part of a recent bureau blog post, which highlighted a few key figures:

$183 Million

“Redress” provided to servicemembers and victims in 42 cases pursued by the CFPB since its 2011 founding. That includes six cases involving the Military Lending Act – a 2006 law (expanded in 2015) which protects servicemembers from predatory lenders and caps interest rates.

[LEARN MORE: The Military Lending Act]

400,000+

Complaints from servicemembers fielded by the CFPB. The year-over-year figure has risen recently – up 27% from 2022 to 2023. The bureau doesn’t tackle every complaint, moving more than 73,000 to other agencies for follow-up – Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) complaints, for instance, are pursued by the Justice Department.

Do you have a potential financial fraud complaint? Learn more about how to file it with the CFBP at this link.

6%

The interest rate active duty servicemembers, including activated Guard and Reserve members, can request on loans they took out prior to active service, according to the SCRA. Not all servicemembers are aware of this benefit; a CFPB report estimates reserve component members alone missed out on more than $100 million in savings on auto and personal loans from 2007 to 2018.

1,124

Servicemember complaints to the CFBP involving identity theft in 2022 – about five times what was reported to the bureau in 2014. The bureau provides educational resources to help servicemembers stop these scams, which can not only cripple their finances, but could put their security clearances at risk.

[RELATED: Protect Your Pay: 6 Ways to Stop Scams Targeting Servicemembers, Retirees]

Find more financial news from MOAA, along with tax resources and other guidance, at MOAA.org/Finance.