March 2017

On April 5, 2017, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing, “The 2016 Semi-Annual Reports of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”  Since Director Cordray has appeared at all of the Committee’s prior hearings on CFPB semi-annual reports, it is reasonable to expect him to appear at this hearing even though the Committee’s website does not yet identify any witnesses. … Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued its sixth annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act report covering the CFPB’s activities in 2016.

According to the report’s section on complaints, the CFPB handled approximately 88,000 debt collection complaints in 2016, which was 2,900 more than in 2015.  The most common complaint was about attempts to collect a debt that the consumer claimed was not owed. … Continue Reading

On March 24, the CFPB announced a proposal to amend Regulation B requirements related to the collection of consumer ethnicity and race information, in order to resolve the differences between Regulation B and revised Regulation C.  These proposed rule amendments are effective on January 1, 2018, the same effective date as the 2015 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Final Rule.… Continue Reading

On Monday, during “The CFPB Speaks” panel I moderated that was part of the Practicing Law Institute’s 22nd Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute in Manhattan, Diane Thompson, Deputy Assistant Director of the CFPB’s Office of Regulations, reported that the CFPB is still reviewing comment letters on its proposed arbitration rule (which would preclude the use of class action waivers) and gave no timetable as to when it will issue a final arbitration rule.… Continue Reading

On Monday, we blogged about the highlights of the panel I moderated, “The CFPB Speaks,” that was part of the Practicing Law Institute’s 22nd annual Consumer Financial Services Institute in Manhattan. The next panel,  “Federal Regulators Speak: Priorities & Coordination,” focused on priorities and developments at the Department of Justice (DOJ), the OCC, and the FTC.… Continue Reading

The CFPB announced that it has entered into a consent order with Experian, a consumer reporting agency, for allegedly engaging in the deceptive marketing of credit scores in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s prohibition against unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices.  The consent order also settles allegations that the company displayed advertisements to consumers before providing free annual credit reports in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. … Continue Reading

The Office of Inspector General for the Fed and CFPB has issued a report on the results of an evaluation it conducted to determine whether the CFPB effectively mitigates the risk of potential conflicts of interest associated with using vendors to support fair lending supervision and enforcement.  In addition to performing fair lending analysis internally, the CFPB contracts with outside vendors to conduct fair lending enforcement analysis and expert witness services. … Continue Reading

Earlier today, at the Practicing Law Institute’s (“PLI”) 22nd Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute in New York City, Alan Kaplinsky (who is co-chairing the event) moderated a panel entitled “The CFPB Speaks,” that featured three senior CFPB lawyers: Anthony (“Tony”) Alexis (Assistant Director for Enforcement), Diane Thompson (Deputy Assistant Director, Office of Regulations), and Peggy Twohig (Assistant Director for Supervision Policy). … Continue Reading

Dovetailing with President Trump’s recent Executive Order requiring a reduction in regulatory burden, on March 21, 2017, a CFPB official remarked at the American Bankers Association Government Relations Summit that the CFPB was planning to start its review of significant mortgage regulations, including the ability to repay/qualified mortgage rule.

The Dodd-Frank Act requires the CFPB to use available evidence and data to assess all of its rules five years after they go into effect to ensure they are meeting the purposes and objectives of Dodd-Frank, and the specific goals of the subject rule. … Continue Reading

As we had indicated, on March 16, the subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Financial Services Committee conducted a hearing entitled “The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s Unconstitutional Design.” Unsurprisingly, Republicans and Democrats on the subcommittee talked past each other in making remarks and questioning the four witnesses: Ted Olson, Saikrishna Prakash, Adam White, and Brianne Gorod.… Continue Reading