Cart

Inside the CFPB

December 21, 2012

View Archived Issues

CFPB Proposes to Allow Limited Trial Disclosure Programs

The CFPB has proposed allowing banks, credit unions and other financial services companies to test new consumer disclosures on a case-by-case basis. The bureau would have to approve of the disclosure programs ahead of time. Under the proposal, the CFPB would exempt certain qualifying individual companies for a limited time from existing federal disclosure laws so they can research and test “informative, cost-effective disclosures.” The participating companies would then share their results with the agency so it... Read More

Debt Collection Causes Highest Rate of Consumer Disputes

The CFPB has released a report on consumer experience with the three largest nationwide credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – finding, among other things, that credit card history dominates the information in consumer reports and that debt collection items generate the highest rate of disputes. Each of these firms have in excess of 200 million files on consumers. In a typical month, they receive updates from approximately 10,000 information “furnishers.” The furnishers do this on more than... Read More

CFPB Facing a Lot of Criticism With Mortgage Servicing Proposal

The CFPB has a pretty full plate digesting hundreds of comments related to its mortgage servicing proposed rule, making it difficult to predict how the final product might end up as it presses to balance the industry’s legitimate concerns with the regulatory mandates of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. During a recent webinar sponsored by Inside Mortgage Finance, an affiliated publication, Mitchell Hochberg, counsel in the division of research, markets and regulations at the CFPB... Read More

Industry Attorney, Bureau Rep Argue Over Right of Action

There was a pronounced difference of opinion between a leading industry attorney and a top official from the CFPB at a recent event over whether the bureau’s proposed mortgage servicing standards create a private right of action that could bring any foreclosure proceeding to a grinding halt. During a webinar sponsored by Inside Mortgage Finance, Larry Platt, financial services practice area leader with the law firm of K&L Gates, said, “The consequence of these regulations is to create a federal cause of action that... Read More

Disclosures to CFPB to Receive Confidentiality Protections

The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed legislation guaranteeing that privileged information provided to the CFPB will remain confidential, ending months of lender uncertainty about the disclosure of privileged and confidential information to the powerful new bureau. H.R. 4014, introduced in March by Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-MI, adds the CFPB to the list of federal agencies that are permitted to share the privileged information of a regulated entity with other federal agencies without waiving any state... Read More

Bureau to Share Consumer Complaint Data With States

The CFPB announced it will provide state banking and financial services regulators with real-time access to the database it uses to collect complaints consumers have with credit cards, mortgages, student loans, checking and savings accounts, credit reporting, bank services and other consumer loans. gThis way, multiple government agencies can work on the consumerfs behalf without them having to file complaints with multiple agencies at different levels of government,h said Scott Pluta, assistant director for the... Read More

Oversight Report Predicts CFPB Will Severely Constrain Credit

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-CA, and Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-NC, released a harshly critical report of the CFPB, asserting the bureau’s structure and mandate will dry up credit for large swaths of the American people. “At a time of prolonged economic strain, American consumers can ill-afford such an unaccountable, unresponsive and all-powerful financial regulator,” the report began. The document also cited a Federal Deposit... Read More

Bureau Convinces Judges to Halt Two Alleged Loan Mod Scams

The CFPB was able to convince judges in California to put a stop to two alleged mortgage loan modification scams it believes ripped off thousands of struggling homeowners across the country, accusing scammers of taking in more than $10 million by charging consumers for services that falsely promised to prevent foreclosures or renegotiate troubled mortgages. At the request of the CFPB, U.S. District Court judges in California ordered a halt to the operations of the Gordon law firm and the National Legal Help Center... Read More

Stage Set for CFPB Removal of ATM Fee Sticker Requirement

Those fee disclosure stickers seen at automated teller machines across the U.S. as per the Electronic Fund Transfer Act are slated to become a thing of the past, after a vote by the Senate cleared the way for the CFPB to eliminate the requirement. The Senate recently followed up on action by the House of Representatives and approved H.R. 4367, legislation that amends the EFTA to eliminate the law’s requirement that a fee disclosure be placed in a prominent and conspicuous location on or at an ATM. Critics say the ... Read More

Bureau Wants More Public Input On the Effect of 2009’s CARD Act

The CFPB has initiated a public comment period to determine how the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 has affected the daily lives of consumers and the behavior of industry. Passage of the act was expressly intended to “establish fair and transparent practices related to the extension of credit” in the credit card market. To achieve these purposes, the law changed the requirements applicable to credit card pricing in a number of significant respects. Prior to the CARD Act, the... Read More

Fed OIG Report on CFPB Reveals Plan to Audit Budget Process

The latest CFPB-related work plan of the Federal Reserve Office of Inspector General indicates the OIG is working on an evaluation of the bureau’s annual budget process, a political flash point on Capitol Hill for Republican critics and opponents of the agency. “As an independent agency within the Federal Reserve System, the CFPB is funded principally by the Federal Reserve System in amounts determined by the CFPB director as necessary to carry out the agency’s operations, subject to limits established in the... Read More

Bureau Examiners to Verify Student Lenders Are in Legal Compliance

The CFPB has issued the examination procedures it plans to use to make sure private student lenders comply with federal consumer financial laws. The CFPB claims the authority to supervise large banks, as well as nonbanks, that make private student loans. The bureau said the new procedures may be used to examine both types of lenders. “Examiners will be assessing whether student lenders have the appropriate processes in place to prevent harm to borrowers,” the CFPB said. Among the requirements federal consumer financial... Read More

Worth Noting

CFPB Reorganizing Supervision Offices. Now that the bureau has launched its separate supervision programs for large banks and for nonbanks, it has decided to realign its headquarters supervisory staff. The CFPB will continue to have two supervision offices at its headquarters, but instead of one office for nonbank supervision and another for large bank supervision, one office will focus on examinations and another on policy. The examinations team will oversee the CFPB’s efforts to recruit, train and commission... Read More

Latest Imf News

More Imf News

Featured Data

More Featured Data

Featured Reports

More Latest Reports

Featured Poll

As homeowner equity continues to build, more and more lenders are launching home equity lending products. Are you thinking of joining this market?

View Results