CFPB issues 2016 Fair Lending Report

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity is charged by statute with “providing oversight and enforcement of Federal laws intended to ensure the fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory access to credit for both individuals and communities.” Today, the CFPB issued its 2016 Fair Lending Report. The report is here.

CFPB proposes clarifications to mortgage data rule

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday issued a proposal to facilitate compliance with the 2015 updates to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) rule. The proposed changes would help financial institutions comply with the 2015 HMDA Final Rule by clarifying the information they are required to collect and report about their mortgage lending. HMDA, which […]

Food safety and the new Administration

From a New York Times op-ed today: When you bite into a piece of fruit, it should be a mindless pleasure. Sure, that steroidal-looking strawberry with a toothpaste-white interior doesn’t seem right to begin with. But you shouldn’t have to think about childhood brain development when layering it over your cereal. The Trump administration, in […]

“DeVos dials back consumer protections for student loan borrowers”

The Washington Post reports that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday withdrew a series of policy memos issued by the Obama administration to strengthen consumer protections for student loan borrowers. The Education Department is in the middle of issuing new contracts to student loan servicing companies that collect payments on behalf of the agency. These […]

“Our economy is a hellscape for consumers”

An op-ed on the Washington Post's website today uses the United Airlines incident as a starting point to discuss lack of consumer choice in today's world. We are told that this is the era of the empowered consumer: The savvy shopper has oodles of time to browse around, comparing prices among various retailers, perhaps consulting […]

“Wells Fargo to Claw Back $75 Million From 2 Former Executives”

The New York Times reports: Wells Fargo’s board said on Monday that it would claw back an additional $75 million in compensation from the two executives on whom it pinned most of the blame for the company’s sales scandal: the bank’s former chief executive, John G. Stumpf, and its former head of community banking, Carrie […]

Times: Loans ‘Designed to Fail’: States Say Navient Preyed on Students

Here (behind paywall). Excerpt: [T]wo state lawsuits filed by the attorneys general in Illinois and Washington, [allege] that Sallie Mae engaged in predatory lending, extending billions of dollars in private loans to students . . .that never should have been made in the first place. * * * New details unsealed last month in the […]

Recent announcements of DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch

March 23, 2017 – New York Salesman Sentenced to Prison for Fraudulently Selling Vending Machine Businesses March 22, 2017 – South Florida Man Pleads Guilty To Mail Fraud In Connection With Jamaican-Based Fraudulent Lottery Scheme March 22, 2017 – Owner of New England Compounding Center Convicted of Racketeering Leading to Nationwide Fungal Meningitis Outbreak March […]