May 2014

Director Cordray spoke at the Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC) Field Hearing this week, emphasizing the federal government’s role as the nation’s single largest employer. In order to lead by example, Director Cordray described how the CFPB has been working with the Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Labor to encourage and assist other federal agencies in developing robust financial education plans for their employees.… Continue Reading

On Wednesday of last week, the House Committee on Financial Services held a hearing entitled “Legislative Proposals to Improve Transparency and Accountability at the CFPB” to examine bills and discussion drafts of potential bills that are designed to promote greater transparency and accountability at the CFPB. In addition to the three witnesses that were scheduled to appear, Ed Mierzwinski of US Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG) also testified before the committee.… Continue Reading

On Wednesday of last week, the House Financial Services Committee held another hearing on alleged CFPB employee discrimination. At the hearing, which was titled “Allegations of Discrimination and Retaliation within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Part Two,” Committee members questioned CFPB witnesses who had been subpoenaed after declining to attend the first hearing in April.… Continue Reading

The CFPB will be publishing a notice in tomorrow’s Federal Register which states that the CFPB is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget of its plans to conduct a national telephone survey of 1,000 credit card holders as part of its study of the use of mandatory arbitration agreements in connection with the offering of consumer financial products and services. … Continue Reading

In the latest semi-annual update of its rulemaking agenda, the CFPB officially confirmed that it plans to propose a rule to define “larger participants of a market for auto lending.”  The official confirmation follows statements made by Steven Antonakes at a Consumer Bankers Association meeting in April 2014 that the CFPB’s next larger participant rule would relate to auto finance. … Continue Reading

The CFPB is extending the comment period on its proposed rule that would amend Regulation P to allow financial institutions that satisfy certain conditions to deliver annual privacy notices to their customers using an alternative online delivery method. 

In a notice to be published in tomorrow’s Federal Register, the CFPB states that it is extending the deadline for comments to be filed from June 12, 2014 to July 14, 2014. … Continue Reading

In its Spring 2014 Supervisory Highlights report issued yesterday, the CFPB highlighted deficiencies and violations it found during examinations of consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), debt collectors and payday lenders.  The CFPB has authority to examine entities that qualify as “larger participants” under the final rules it adopted to supervise participants in the debt collection and consumer reporting markets and to examine payday lenders regardless of their size.… Continue Reading

Director Cordray spoke at the Boulder Summer Conference on Consumer Financial Decision Making this week, addressing student loan debt as a “pressing problem and a matter of grave importance to public policy in America.” Student loan debt is the second largest debt category after the mortgage market, and has reached $1.2 trillion.… Continue Reading

According to a report issued yesterday by the CFPB entitled “Data point: Medical debt and credit scores,” credit scoring models may be overly penalizing consumers with medical debts that go into collection by producing credit scores that underestimate such consumers’ creditworthiness. 

To conduct its analysis, the CFPB used data in its Consumer Credit Panel (CCP). … Continue Reading