Category Archives: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

CFPB Rule Fight Forces Senators to Choose: Military Families or Big Banks

CFPB Illustration

Earlier this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) promulgated a long-awaited rule prohibiting banks and payday lenders from using forced arbitration clauses in their contracts. The rule was brought to a halt, however, by the House of Representatives–under the seldom used Congressional Review Act, an authority which enables Congress to “veto” executive-agency actions–and now […]

Trump and Cordray: Five Scenarios for the CFPB

cfpb logo

Here are five potential scenarios on what might happen to CFPB director Richard Cordray once the new president arrives. One: Bigger Fish Prevail Competing priorities may push back any big decisions about the CFPB or its director, even if the new administration ultimately plans an all-out assault on the agency, several sources predict. Two: Congress […]

Debt Collection Was the Most Complained About Financial Service Among Older Consumers for March

Calculator and Bill

For March 2017, debt collection was the most-complained-about financial product or service by consumers identifying as over the age of 62. Of the 2,169 older consumer complaints handled in March, there were 496 complaints about debt collection. The second most-complained-about consumer product was mortgages, which accounted for 486 complaints. Credit reporting was the third most-complained-about […]

Sloppy Credit Bureaus, Sketchy Credit Doctors Slammed by Trifecta of CFPB, State AGs, and Consumer Lawyers (4/4)

This is part four of a four-part series that looks at how inaccurate credit reporting is being fought by attorneys, the CFPB, and state AGs. CFPB Nails Credit Repair Doctors: The credit bureaus not only make mistakes, they fail to conduct adequate reinvestigations of disputes or remove inaccurate information. Instead of complying with these FCRA […]

House passes sweeping bill to strip back financial rules

Capitol Hill

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed sweeping legislation to strip and replace much of the financial regulations passed under former President Barack Obama after the 2008 financial crisis. The House passed the Financial Creating Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers and Entrepreneurs (CHOICE) Act, 233-186, along party lines. The bill is not expected to […]

Your consumer protections, on the brink of destruction in Congress

Wall Street

When Congress sought to make sure that abuses by the financial industry that put our economy on the brink of collapse would never be repeated, it created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Since its founding in 2011, the CFPB has delivered resoundingly, providing $12 billion in relief to 29 million consumers wronged by banks and […]

House to vote on killing Dodd-Frank today

Dodd Frank Public Law

House lawmakers are poised to pass the “crown jewel” of the GOP-led regulatory reform effort on Thursday, effectively gutting the Dodd-Frank financial regulations that were put in place during the Obama administration. Called the Financial Choice Act, the Republican bill seeks to undo significant parts of the 2010 financial reform law. Crafted by House Financial […]

CFPB Report Details Problems, New Requirements Consumer Reporting Companies Must Implement

cfpb Watching Agencies

Some of the problems that the CFPB documented in its report include: • No programs to test the accuracy of credit reports that the CRCs produced, prompting Director Cordray to remark “we were surprised to find that [the CRCs’] quality control systems were either rudimentary or virtually non-existent.” •Deficiencies regarding the CRCs’ relationship with furnishers and […]

Beware, mortgage seekers: Random, online ‘credit scores’ are not always reliable

Credit Score Displayed on a Laptop

A new legal settlement from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleges that Experian, one of the big three credit-reporting bureaus, “deceptively marketed credit scores to consumers by misrepresenting” them as “the same” as what their lender would use in determining whether and on what terms to offer them a loan.    In fact, said the […]

Supervisory Highlights Consumer Reporting Special Edition Issue 14, Winter 2017

The CFPB’s vision is rooted in the obligations and rights set forth in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Regulation V.1 In the last two years, we identified failings in compliance management systems and violations of law both at CRCs and at furnishers. As a result, we have directed specific improvements in data accuracy […]