CFPB v. Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools

Case Updates

The D.C. Circuit unanimously affirmed the district court’s decision refusing to enforce a civil investigative demand (“CID”) issued by the CFPB to an accrediting agency for for-profit schools. The court held that the CID was invalid on its face because it failed to state adequately the unlawful conduct under investigation or the applicable law.

The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief urging the D.C. Circuit to hold that the CFPB lacks authority to investigate the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools’ process for accrediting for-profit colleges.

The Chamber’s brief argues that college accreditation agencies are outside the CFPB’s jurisdiction because they do not offer or provide consumer financial products or services, and there is no justification for the CFPB’s efforts to regulate such agencies because they are already closely regulated by the Department of Education. The brief also explains the critical need for courts to police statutory limits on the CFPB’s authority, given the agency’s incentive to lay claim to as large a regulatory role as possible and the burden that civil investigative demands impose on businesses.

Andrew J. Pincus, Ori Lev, Stephen C.N. Lilley, and Matthew A. Waring of Mayer Brown LLP served as counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.