CFPB Joins Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. The CFPB recently joined a new Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud, created by President Trump pursuant to an executive order. The task force is led by the Department of Justice, with the participation of the CFPB, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission. The task force will provide guidance for the investigation and prosecution of cases [Includes four briefs] ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued an interpretive rule to clear up some of the confusion created by the recently approved Dodd-Frank reform act regarding the eligibility of certain VA refinance loans to serve as Ginnie Mae collateral. Although interpretive rules are exempted from public comment under the Administrative Procedures Act, HUD is seeking public input on its interpretation of the loan-seasoning provision of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which President Trump signed into law on May 24, 2018. Among other things, the statute prohibits Ginnie from guaranteeing payment on a security backed by a mortgage that does not meet its seasoning requirements. The protective measure was designed to deter lenders from encouraging veterans to refinance their loans often and repeatedly. Loan churning led to faster prepayment speeds on the ...

Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney has emerged as a leading candidate to become President Trump’s next chief of staff. Now, the big question: Will it actually happen? The speculation regarding Mulvaney and the White House chief of staff job, however, is not new. In February of this year, Mulvaney was said to be Trump’s top pick for the position, but nothing happened. “I remember he was rumored to be a candidate last time [John] Kelly was in trouble,” said one former ...

Leandra English, deputy director of the CFPB, announced late last week she will resign from the agency early this week, ending her legal fight to become the bureau’s acting chief. English said she made the decision “in light of the recent nomination of a new director,” according to a statement posted on the Twitter account of English’s attorney, Deepak Gupta. Gupta also posted a statement saying he and English will bring to an end a pending case that ...

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, a one-time presidential candidate, recently blasted Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney, calling him “Trump’s chief hatchet man extraordinaire.” Nader referred to Trump’s top aide as “easily one of the cruelest, most vicious presidential henchman in modern American history,” saying nowhere has Mulvaney “been more blatant about his ugly mission than in his efforts to freeze and dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection ...

Industry groups are calling on the CFPB to provide clarification of fair lending standards under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act as it applies to disparate impact, according to recently filed comment letters on inherited regulations. Among other things, lenders are asking the CFPB to review its use of disparate impact based on a Supreme Court of the United States’ decision in Inclusive Communities. The case established a framework for the application of disparate impact ...

A federal judge in New York last week ruled that the structure of the CFPB is unconstitutional, creating a conflict with a D.C. circuit court ruling. The decision by Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York also said the CFPB cannot bring claims under the Consumer Financial Protection Act or pursue enforcement actions against the defendants in the case, RD Legal Funding and related entities. An en banc decision in January ...

President Trump last week nominated Kathy Kraninger, a little-known White House budget official, to head the CFPB. The nomination has set the stage for a contentious Senate confirmation process. Most observers were surprised by Trump’s CFPB pick as Kraninger’s name has never come up in public discussion of possible nominees to become the next director of the bureau. The first question for many was: Who is Kathy Kraninger? The nominee currently serves as ...

t is still a big question mark how Kathy Kraninger, President Trump’s nominee to head the CFPB, will perform in Senate confirmation hearings. But the widely different reactions from Republican and Democratic lawmakers signal a contentious and drawn-out process. The White House last week officially sent the nomination of Kraninger to the Senate. The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs will hold a hearing on the nominee, which could ...

Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney plans to cut the agency’s 2019 budget by 20 percent, bringing its spending down to roughly the level set in 2015. “I’ve asked them to run through the experiment of reducing spending by 20 percent,” to under $490 million, said the acting bureau chief in a recent round- table discussion with reporters. Mulvaney is also the director of the Office of Management and Budget. The CFPB later confirmed the spending cuts, noting that ...