CFPB Beats Lawsuit Over Home Energy Loan Transparency Rules

What the case was about

The plaintiff was Building Resilient Infrastructure & Developing Greater Equity Inc. (BRIDGE), a trade association for administrators of home improvement and energy loans.​
It sued the CFPB over a 2024 rule that effectively applies Truth in Lending–type transparency and disclosure standards used in the mortgage market to loans used for energy-efficiency upgrades and disaster‑preparedness projects.

The court’s ruling

Judge Thomas Barber of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted the CFPB’s request to toss the suit, ruling that the 2024 PACE/energy‑loan transparency rule did not exceed the Bureau’s statutory authority.​
By rejecting BRIDGE’s claims, the decision leaves the CFPB’s home‑energy loan transparency framework in place, meaning industry participants must continue preparing for or complying with mortgage‑style disclosure obligations in this segment.

Regulatory context

The challenged rule fits into the CFPB’s broader push to subject clean‑energy and home‑improvement financing (including PACE and certain solar or resiliency products) to more robust Truth in Lending‑type disclosures and consumer protections, as flagged in earlier CFPB issue spotlights on solar and clean‑energy lending practices.​
The win in district court also comes against a backdrop of ongoing litigation and appellate activity over the CFPB’s clean‑energy loan rules in the Eleventh Circuit, where industry challengers have separately sought to halt related energy‑loan regulations.​