Suddenly, there's a lot going on the in the world of debt collection regulation. On the heels of yesterday's announcement by the FTC of a huge debt-collection settlement (discussed in the post below), the CFPB is announcing today that it will use its UDAAP authority to regulate the collection practices of banks. “It doesn’t matter […]
Category Archives: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
That's the topic of a Times article, Democrats Plan Challenge to G.O.P.’s Filibuster Use. The plan seems to be to leave unchanged the filibuster rules for legislation and confirmation of judges, but limit use of the filibuster for votes on confirmation of agency appointees. Such a change would make it easier to vote on confirmation […]
by Jeff Sovern From time to time, reports appear that Senator Portman is trying to broker a compromise that would permit confirmation of Richard Cordray as CFPB director. And some, including Ballard Spahr's Alan Kaplinsky, have predicted that a compromise will be eventually be reached. I don't have any inside information–it's not as if legislators […]
Here. Cordray's recess appointment expires in December. What happens then? Under Dodd-Frank, Cordray's deputy takes over as acting director. Right now, Steve Antonakes is the acting deputy. But some of those who argue Cordray's appointment is invalid claim also that his naming Antonakes as acting deputy is invalid. Of course, the Supreme Court may rule that […]
by Jeff Sovern Here's the blurb I provided: "Powerful interest groups seldom lose major battles in Congress, but that is exactly what happened when Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2010. Larry Kirsch and Robert N. Mayer have produced, in Financial Justice: The People's Campaign to Stop Lender Abuse, an eminently readable and […]
Here (but behind a paywall). Among the points made in the article are that the recess appointment of current CFPB Director Richard Cordray is likely to expire before the Supreme Court rules and that banks could be hurt if Cordray's appointment is ruled unconstitutional because that would leave banks subject to the Bureau but not […]
by Jeff Sovern Deposit advance loans are banks' answer to payday loans. Just like payday loans, they tend to be for short periods and high interest rates. And just as with payday loans, consumer advocates fear that consumers get trapped in them, in the sense that many borrowers can't come up with the money to […]
by Jeff Sovern Yesterday, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing titled CFPB Budget Review. You can listen to the webcast here. It seems to be part of the continuing Republican attack on the Bureau. The American Banker reported on the hearing here (behind a paywall). The article points out that Republicans were criticial […]
On Thursday, the FTC and CFPB held a joint roundtable titled Life of a Debt: Data Integrity in Debt Collection. Journalist Fred Williams has a report at the Taking Charge blog. An except: At Thursday's meeting, [debt buyer and industry association president Richard] Munroe and other debt buyers didn't repeat the argument the collection industry […]