(Reuters) – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau dismissed its lawsuit accusing Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, of driving borrowers into loans they could not afford to buy homes from Berkshire’s Clayton Homes unit.
Thursday’s voluntary dismissal is part of a broad retrenchment in enforcement by the CFPB, which was created in 2010 during the Obama administration and which U.S. President Donald Trump wants to dismantle.
The CFPB on Thursday also dismissed multiple other lawsuits, including a case against Capital One. Its dismissals have been with prejudice, meaning the agency cannot pursue the cases again.
Vanderbilt and Clayton, its parent, had no immediate comment. Both are based in Maryville, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville.
The CFPB sued Vanderbilt on January 6, accusing it of violating the federal Truth in Lending Act by ignoring “clear and obvious red flags” that borrowers could not afford their loans.
It said many borrowers ended up paying late fees and penalties, had their homes repossessed or filed for bankruptcy after falling behind on payments.
Clayton is the largest U.S. builder of manufactured homes, including mobile homes. These are often bought by people who have low credit scores and incomes, or live in rural areas.
In 2024, Clayton’s revenue rose more than 8% to $12.4 billion. Pretax profit fell 6% to about $1.9 billion, in part because of higher losses from loans and homeowner property insurance claims.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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