Category Archives: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Take the Abusiveness Challenge: Identify a Valuable Consumer Financial Product Not Offered Because of Uncertainty About Whether It Is Abusive

by Jeff Sovern The Dodd-Frank Act gives the CFPB the power to act against entities within the CFPB's jurisdiction for engaging in abusive practices. See 12 USC 5531.  Though that section explains what the limits are to the Bureau's power to proscribe abusive conduct, the industry has long claimed that it needs additional guidance as […]

Oh where, oh where has verification gone in the CFPB’s proposed FDCPA regulation?

by Jeff Sovern  Section 1692g(a)(4) requires debt collectors to send consumers a "a statement that if the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, the debt collector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against the consumer and a copy of such verification or judgment will be mailed to the consumer by the debt collector . […]

Call for Papers for 4th CFPB Research Conference on Consumer Finance

We've received the following Call for Papers: 4th CFPB Research Conference on Consumer FinanceDecember 12th–13th, 2019This December, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will host its fourth researchconference on consumer finance at Catholic University in Washington, DC. Information on priorconferences can be found here: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/cfpbresearch-conference/We encourage the submission of a variety of research. This includes, […]

What is the optimal structure for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?

That's the topic of Commissioning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by law prof Jolina Cuaresma. Here's the abstract: There has been much debate over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s lack of executive and congressional oversight: its single director removable only for cause and its operations are not subject to appropriations. This paper explains how this […]

Is “regulation by enforcement” a pretext for less enforcement?

by Jeff Sovern The industry and some others often complain about "regulation by enforcement," by which I gather is meant that enforcement agencies bring actions against businesses without having previously given extremely clear notice that, in the agency's view, the conduct that is the subject of the action violates existing law.  Director Cordray's CFPB was […]

My Bloomberg piece about the CFPB’s FDCPA proposed rules and consumer privacy

by Jeff Sovern Link here Excerpt: [T]the bureau proposal would invade consumer privacy by allowing collectors to bombard consumers with demands for payment. Under the proposal, debt collectors could try the consumer’s phone number seven times a week and leave voicemails each time. That may not sound too bad, but the CFPB reports that nearly […]

Some big problems with the CFPB’s proposal to allow debt collectors to leave limited-content messages over the phone

by Jeff Sovern The more I think about the CFPB's recent proposal to allow debt collectors to leave limited-content messages over the phone, the more I think the proposal has real problems. The proposal would allow debt collectors to leave voicemails or oral messages with whomever answered the phone. To qualify as a limited-content message, […]

Anticipating the CFPB’s Debt Collection Rules

Reporter Renae Merle has a story up at the Washington Post about the debt collection rules that the CFPB is expected to unveil “in a few weeks.” The story was prompted, in part, by a recent speech given by CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger during which she “laid out a business-friendly vision for the CFPB.” The […]

Kraninger agrees with Mulvaney that she doesn’t have to answer Congress’s questions

by Jeff Sovern This transcript of the young Kathleen Kraninger has recently been unearthed: Adult: Did you eat the chocolate chip cookies? Kraninger: I will stipulate that there were chocolate chip cookies and that they are no longer here. Adult: Did you eat them? Kraninger: I understand what you're getting at. Adult: Did you take […]