ProPublica has an article about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today. Here is the lead: Born as a fiercely independent agency meant to protect citizens, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has quickly been subsumed into the Trump administration. Banks, student-loan agencies and payday lenders are the winners. The full article is here.
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Former Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Cordray has an op-ed in the Washington Post today, expressing concerns about the agency's current path: The CFPB was designed to serve as a tough and independent watchdog for consumers. Yet Trump and White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, the bureau’s putative acting head, have bullied […]
The Associated Press reports that Wells Fargo has made missteps in its efforts to make amends to customers who were forced to buy unneeded auto insurance. A spokeswoman for the bank said that 38,000 customers received a letter they did not need and that contained no refund. She said the error was due to a […]
The Alabama legislature is considering a bill that would give borrowers who take out payday loans additional time to pay them back. The bill reportedly has bipartisan support in the Alabama Legislature. Currently, payday lenders in Alabama can require that loans be paid back anywhere from 10 days to 31 days. The bill would set […]
The Washington Post reports: "The Trump administration has stripped enforcement powers away from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau office that specializes in pursuing cases against financial firms accused of breaking discrimination laws, according to two people familiar with the matter and emails reviewed by The Washington Post." The full article is here.
Mulvaney sent a memo to employees at the Consumer Financial protection Bureau today. You can read it here.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ended its investigation into the marketing and lending practices of World Acceptance Corporation, a self-described "small-loan consumer finance" company. World Acceptance generates the bulk of its revenue through refinancings. As ProPublica has explained, here, the company makes installment loans with "sky-high rates" and generates revenue by charging interest up […]
Today, in a letter to Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Hackett, the Center for Auto Safety renewed its request for Ford to conduct a full recall of 1.3 million Model Year 2011-2017 Explorers because of suspected Carbon Monoxide leaks. This follows the Center’s call for action in October 2017, after Ford failed to take seriously […]
Last year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed suit against a group of payday lenders, alleging that they had deceived consumers and failed to disclose the true cost of the loans, which carried interest rates as high as 950 percent a year. Today, the CFPB asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit. The agency offered […]
Politico reports: Every quarter, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau formally requests its operating funds from the Federal Reserve. Last quarter, former director Richard Cordray asked for $217.1 million. Cordray, an appointee of President Barack Obama, needed just $86.6 million the quarter before that. And yesterday, President Donald Trump’s acting CFPB director, Mick Mulvaney, sent his […]