Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

LA Times Report on Hearing on PI Motion in English v. Mulvaney, the CFPB Leadership Case

The story is headlined Trump's Wells Fargo tweet cited in court hearing as reason to remove Mulvaney as CFPB acting chief.  The tweet said Fines and penalties against Wells Fargo Bank for their bad acts against their customers and others will not be dropped, as has incorrectly been reported, but will be pursued and, if anything, […]

District Court Hearing on Friday on English PI Motion for Control of CFPB as White House and Treasury are Said to Fight Over the Bureau’s Role

The American Banker''s Kate Berry has a report on the hearing here; it is not optimistic about English's chances. Meanwhile, the WSJ has a story headlined The Internal Divide Behind Trump’s Takeover of Consumer Watchdog about how White House conservatives want to dismantle the Bureau while the Treasury sees a role for the Bureau. Mulvaney's appointment is seen […]

Does Cancellation of the Debt Collection Notice Survey Mean Lawmaking in the Dark Has Come to the CFPB?

by Jeff Sovern Advocates for some positions sometimes block the federal government from researching or supporting research on issues. For example, supporters of gun rights have long had the votes to prevent the government from obtaining data about gun safety.  See, e.g., Newsweek's report titled THE GOVERNMENT WON'T FUND RESEARCH ON GUN VIOLENCE BECAUSE OF […]

Beyranevand Article: Regulating Inherently Subjective Food Labeling Claims

Laurie J. Beyranevand of Vermont has written Regulating Inherently Subjective Food Labeling Claims, 37 Environmental Law 543 (2017).  Here is the abstract: For many consumers, the modern food label serves as the sole source of information regarding any individual food product. While it may be considered informative in some respects, it is often enigmatic in others. The present […]

Trump Tweet Demonstrates That CFPB No Longer Independent of White House

by Jeff Sovern The tweet reads:  Fines and penalties against Wells Fargo Bank for their bad acts against their customers and others will not be dropped, as has incorrectly been reported, but will be pursued and, if anything, substantially increased. I will cut Regs but make penalties severe when caught cheating! If the CFPB continued […]

The Sovietization of the CFPB?

by Jeff Sovern The old Soviet Union assigned political officers, called zampoliti, to military units to monitor the units for political correctness, as the Soviets defined it, among other purposes. According to an American Banker article authored by Kevin Wack, Mulvaney's plan to embed political staffers in CFPB sparks backlash, the purported Acting CFPB Director, Mick […]