Judge nixes a Biden rule in order to keep medical debt on credit reports

Americans’ unpaid medical bills will remain on their credit reports after a federal judge last week vacated a Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that would have removed such debt.

Judge Sean Jordan of the US District Court of Texas’ Eastern District found that the rule exceeded the bureau’s authority under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, agreeing with the arguments of two industry associations, which had filed a lawsuit against the rule that was later joined by the Trump administration.

The court found that “every major substantive provision of the Medical Debt Rule” exceeded the CFPB’s authority, Jordan, a President Donald Trump appointee, wrote in his opinion.