CFPB Drops Biden-Era Case Against Credit Card Company Over Fees

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau voluntarily dropped a case against a Pennsylvania-based credit card company that allegedly collected more than $51 million in fees by trapping consumers in high-cost membership programs.

The CFPB, in a Wednesday filing in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, said it would no longer pursue its case against Reliant Holdings Inc., doing business as Horizon Card Services, and its founder and CEO Robert Kane. The CFPB dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it can’t refile the claims later.

Judge Robert J. Colville signed off on the dismissal in a subsequent order.

“Today’s decision by the CFPB to voluntarily dismiss this case with prejudice serves as proof that they find their own case to be completely meritless,” Reliant Holdings said in a statement.

The move to dismiss the case against Reliant Holdings marks at least a dozen enforcement actions launched under former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra that the Trump administration has voluntarily dropped.

Reliant Holdings charged customers a $300 annual membership fee to access a card with a credit limit of either $500 or $750 in the first year of membership, the CFPB said in a September lawsuit.

The cards were usable only at Horizon Outlet, an online retailer owned by Reliant Holdings that sold off-brand toys, home goods, pet supplies, and clothing. When name-brand products were available, they were offered at prices higher than other online retailers, the complaint said.

A photograph of Horizon Outlet included in the complaint showed that it was “little more than a storage room,” the CFPB said at the time.

Customers who moved to cancel were dragged through a long series of phone calls with numerous membership offers and other sales pitches, the CFPB said. Reliant provided full refunds only if customers made repeated complaints or threatened to report the company to the Better Business Bureau, the agency said.

CFPB Chief Legal Officer Mark Paoletta said in a memo issued April 16 that the CFPB would focus on preventing fraud in its enforcement policies, but dropping the lawsuit against Reliant Holdings and Horizon shows that the Trump administration may not do so aggressively, said former CFPB Enforcement Director Eric Halperin.

“If the new CFPB plans to enforce any part of the law, the evidence so far is scant,” Halperin said in a statement.

The CFPB has also stopped pursuing enforcement actions against JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., MoneyGram International Inc., and several other companies under the leadership of acting Director Russell Vought.

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP represents the Reliant defendants.

The case is CFPB v. Reliant Holdings Inc., W.D. Pa., No. 2:24-cv-01301, Plaintiff’s Notice of Dismissal 4/23/25.