Give Military Members Their Money Back

Target: Russell Vought, Acting Director of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Goal: Enforce settlement that would have returned 95 million dollars of wrongfully issued overdraft fees to Navy service members and families.

The hits keep coming for America’s active and former armed service members. After reports recently emerged about disabled veterans’ retirement benefits potentially being in jeopardy, now comes word that millions of dollars unfairly charged to Navy personnel, families, and veterans will not be returned. In 2017, individuals who used the Navy Federal Credit Union for banking purposes began filing complaints about overdraft fees being applied to their accounts even when they had sufficient funds in the accounts. Seven years later, in 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered the union to refund 95 million dollars in improperly issued fees. The judgment also ordered a 15 million-dollar payment to a victims relief fund set up by the CFPB.

Despite these promised returns, the Trump administration’s newly remade CFPB abruptly dropped the case with no explanation. In essence, the credit union that was found to have illegally extracted “junk fees” from its military members and their families will not have to pay a dime in restitution. And the practice of levying these wrongful overdraft fees – which the credit union had agreed to cease doing in the settlement – could make an unceremonious return. A former director of the CFPB issued this warning to current credit union members: “We are at a point where it’s very uncertain whether the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will ultimately step in on the side of consumers and not take the side of their bank.” Critics accuse the current administration’s CFPB of doing little more than reversing consumer protection orders dictated by the previous administration, with the ultimate goal of gutting the agency entirely.

Lawmakers have signed a letter demanding an explanation for this reversal and a restoration of the prior order. Sign the petition below to join protests against the politicization of consumer protection.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Director Vought,

For an administration that touts its respect and devotion for veterans and active-duty service members, the decision to deny thousands of these individuals tens of millions of dollars unfairly taken from them is equal parts hypocritical and inexplicable. The CFPB’s decision against the Navy Federal Credit Union resulted from years of complaints and investigations that found clear wrongdoing on the credit union’s part. Why will this agency not answer for its seeming prioritization of big business finance over the contributions of its military?

The mission is right in the name: consumer protection. Honor the oath you took and the responsibilities you uphold by letting the previous decision stand and giving individuals who have sacrificed for this country their rightful due.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Vodafone X Rankin Everyone Connected

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7 Signatures

  • Lisa Annecone
  • Frances Rove
  • Susan Lantow
  • Wanza Lutz
  • Melody Montminy
  • Kathleen Archibald
  • Robert Nowak
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