Tag Archives: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Mortgage Bankers Association released a letter urging the CFPB to avoid proposals that may lead to consequences harmful to the industry.

Roughly 3.5 million consumers will get back $200 million in restitution from Discover Bank after federal agencies came down on the financial services institution on Monday for allegedly deceptive sales strategies. The FDIC and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled a public enforcement action to conclude their joint investigation that started last year. According to a release, Discover Bank will also fork over $14 million in civil penalties for masking financial products with fees as freebies, misleading consumers about charges, even processing orders without their consent in cases.

The CEO of Hope Enterprise Corporation/Hope Credit Union (HOPE),Bill Bynum, has been appointed to a leadership position with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Bynum was named the vice chairman of the organization's new initiative, the Consumer Advisory Board.

Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, met with general praise and a few pointed concerns Thursday when he addressed the Senate Banking Committee when he presented the agency├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós semi-annual report. While most members of the committee praised the Bureau├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós progress thus far, a few questioned the extent of its authority and the implications of some of its actions. He said the agency has received 72,297 consumer complaints thus far, noting that complaints have ramped up over the past year.

Community banks should be exempt from pending regulations on high-cost mortgages since they were not responsible for the mortgage crises, the Independent Community Bankers of America stated in a release. In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it was proposing rules for high-cost mortgages, which would be determined based on interest rates, points and fees, or prepayment penalties. The proposals for high-cost mortgages include a ban on prepayment penalties and a general ban on balloon payments. Late fees would be capped.

Taking the stage on Thursday, speakers at the ninth annual Five Star Conference, currently underway at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, tackled the issue most politicians evade: When and where should government intervene in the housing market? Not often, according to speakers like Jack Konyk, executive director of government affairs with Weiner Brodsky Sidman Kider, and Edward Kramer, EVP of regulatory affairs with Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. The Dodd-Frank Act took center-stage during the debate, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau along with it.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently unveiled several recent changes of guard for senior personnel. The bureau said in a release on Tuesday that Kelly Thompson Cochran, Chris Lipsett, Stephen van Meter, and Delicia Reynold Hand would move into senior roles. Cochran will transition from her role as deputy assistant director into a new office as acting assistant director for regulations. Van Meter will take up a new position as deputy general counsel, a change from his past role as assistant general counsel for policy with the CFPB.

Just how important is disclosure to American borrowers? Very important, if the figures from a recent Harris Interactive survey mean anything. MortgageMarvel.com commissioned a survey of 2,214 American adults 18 years or older to learn that one full-quarter of Americans take disclosure into account when considering their next home loan. Sixteen percent wanted an easy comparisons process, 10 percent affirmed their interest in privacy, and 7 percent cited a want of real-time quotes.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on a roll lately. On Friday, the agency offered up rules to reduce interest rates, do away with points and fees, and screen mortgage loan officers. In the first of a slew of new rulemaking proposals, the CFPB would require lenders to strip loans of their origination points and discount fees for certain consumers. The proposals would also require background checks for loan officers and bar arbitration clauses for credit insurance practices.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau strikes once more ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô against the little guy, according to recent reports. One of those came from analysts with Moody's Investors Service on Thursday. Their report suggests that a tide of new rules from the credit bureau will likely impose "costly" and "challenging" new costs on small to midsize servicers. As for the bigger guys? Analysts say they may just walk away from the rules without a scratch. And theirs isn't the first report to say as much. Read more to learn why.