Category Archives: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Every American Should Read (Or Better Yet, Listen to) Elizabeth Warren’s Book

by Jeff Sovern I've been listening to the audio version of Elizabeth Warren's new book, A Fighting Chance (you can read and listen to a short excerpt here).  Over at PrawfsBlawg, Jennifer Bard wrote that law professors should read the book. I would go much further: anyone who cares about our country should read (or […]

New York Department of Financial Services Brings Dodd-Frank Case

by Jeff Sovern The Dodd-Frank Act, in section 1031, authorizes the CFPB to bring actions to prevent abusive, deceptive, and unfair practices. Section 1042 gives states the power to enforce Dodd-Frank provisions as well.  Accordingly, as reported here, here, and here, on Wednesday New York’s Department of Financial Services, led by Ben Lawsky, brought what has been […]

While the CFPB Made it Easier to Complain to Credit Bureaus, the House Attacked the CFPB

by Jeff Sovern The CFPB announced yesterday that the big three credit bureaus have added a function to their web sites to enable consumers to upload documents supporting claims of errors–police reports, copies of correspondence, etc–in credit reports.  That shouldn't be a big deal in 2014, but in the world of credit bureaus, where the […]

PIRG Report: Mistaken Identity Tops Debt Collection Complaints

Here.  Excerpts from PIRG's news release: Debt collectors trying to collect debt from the wrong person were the top source of complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), according to a report released today by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund. The report also found that debt collection, the newest category in the database, is […]

House to Vote this Week to Make CFPB Less Effective

by Jeff Sovern Housing Wire reports in Congressional Republicans mull bill to add CFPB oversight, that the House will vote this week on a bill to replace the CFPB's director with a commission and subject it to the congressional appropriation process.  The bill is not expected to receive a warm welcome in the Senate or at […]

House Republicans Wasting More Time Trying to Weaken the CFPB

by Jeff Sovern The Wall Street Journal has the story here. The bill would allow other federal agencies to veto Bureau rules more easily.  It is hard to imagine the bill passing the Senate or being signed into law by the president. Meanwhile, the article points out, the clock is ticking on the debt ceiling.

American Banker: Cordray Loses Cool After House GOP Attacks

by Jeff Sovern Here (behind a paywall). Cordray was testifying before the House Financial Services Committee and, according to the article, was subject to some attacks that seem absurd, at least to me. Excerpt: [Rep. Stevan Pearce, R-N.M] suggested that data collection undertaken by the CFPB could be passed onto political campaigns. "But I will […]

Mother Jones: The Obama Administration Wants to End Racial Discrimination by Car Dealers. Why Are 35 Dems Getting in the Way?

Here.  An excerpt: In late March, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—the consumer watchdog agency dreamt up by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—issued new, voluntary guidelines aimed at ensuring car dealerships are not illegally ripping off minorities. Since then, 13 Senate Democrats, including Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.); and 22 House Dems, including Reps. […]

Did the CFPB Discover a Natural Experiment on the Impact of Arbitration Clauses on the Willingness of Consumers to Bring Claims?

by Jeff Sovern I'm finally getting around to reading the CFPB's December 12 report, Arbitration Study: Preliminary Results, about which Brian blogged here. Though the Bureau does not make much of it, perhaps because the natural experiment has some flaws (as natural experiments often do), the CFPB Study sheds some light on the impact of arbitration […]