THE CLIMB CREDIT FILE
Case No. 1:24-cv-07868
TL;DR: The Receipts
- Climb Credit and its parent companies allegedly engaged in “deceptive and abusive acts” by falsely marketing student loans.
- They created a “sham” return-on-investment (ROI) analysis to give the appearance of vetting schools.
- Loan origination volume ballooned from $8 million in 2015 to over $218 million in 2022.
- Student loan default rates regularly exceeded 20%, and soared past 40% for many schools.
- The CFPB is suing them for violating federal laws, including the Truth in Lending Act.
The Data Deception
Climb Credit’s marketing relied on statistics that were, according to the CFPB, “false and very likely inflated.”
Legal Receipts
“Defendants offered Climb Loans for many programs that they had not vetted for quality… their determination that the program passed the return-on-investment analysis was a sham.”
Complaint, Paragraph 3The “Cost of a Life” Metric
At least 15,000 consumers received flawed documents. Total undisclosed fees reached $6.6 million.
That averages to roughly $440 per student in hidden costs—money that should have gone toward groceries or rent.
The CFPB has a press release about Climb Credit’s bullshit marketing: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-takes-action-against-climb-credit-and-investment-firm-1-0-for-deceiving-borrowers-about-coding-bootcamps-and-vocational-programs/
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