US judge won’t lift block on rule capping credit card late fees at $8

(Reuters) – A federal judge in Texas on Friday rejected a request by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to lift an order that blocked a new rule capping credit card late fees at $8, a policy challenged by business and banking groups.

U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth declined to dissolve an injunction he issued in May that barred the rule from taking effect. That rule was issued as part of the Biden administration’s broader crackdown on “junk fees.”

The CFPB had asked the judge to revisit the injunction, saying it rested entirely on an appeals court’s now-overturned ruling declaring the agency’s funding structure unconstitutional. But Pittman said the rule could still be blocked on other grounds.