In the first criminal referral from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the U.S. is coming out swinging against a debt-settlement company in a new indictment. The firm has been charged with defrauding more than 1,200 people struggling with credit-card debt, with prosecutors saying the defendants “systematically exploited and defrauded” people around the U.S. [More]
CFPB’s First Criminal Referral Leads To U.S. Indicting Debt-Repair Firm For Defrauding 1,200
By May 7, 2013
Senate Panel Gives Thumbs-Up To Confirming CFPB Director Cordray
By March 19, 2013
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray moved one step closer to sticking around as the young agency’s head this morning, with the Senate Banking Committee narrowly giving its approval to his confirmation. [More]
CFPB Director Cordray To Make His Case For Another Term Tomorrow
By March 11, 2013
A little more than a year after taking the reins as the first Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Richard Cordray will be appearing tomorrow before the Senate Banking Committee to answer questions and make his case for another term at the Bureau’s helm. [More]
Richard Cordray Re-Nominated To Head Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
By January 24, 2013
Ever since Richard Cordray was appointed head of the very first Consumer Financial Protection Bureau back in January 2012, he’s rolled up his sleeves as the director and dug into the task of making the financial industry less confusing to consumers. He and the CFPB have addressed credit card companies, credit bureaus, debt collectors, mortgage applications, big banks and their myriad of fees and all matter of consumer complaints. And now he gets to do it again this year! [More]
CFPB Warns Specialty Credit Reporting Agencies: You’ve Gotta Issue Free Annual Reports, Too
By November 29, 2012
Oh, hey, specialty credit reporting companies. Whatcha doing? Just hanging out? That’s great. Listen, just an FYI, you need to be issuing free credit reports to your customers, too. Nope, it’s not just the three largest credit reporting companies, you’re all in the same boat. Our pals at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are here to remind you, in case you’d conveniently forgotten. [More]
CFPB Devises New Simple Forms For Mortgages That Won't Boggle Your Eyeballs
By August 10, 2012
If mortgage disclosure forms actually told homeowners exactly what they were getting into, in the simplest of terms, perhaps everyone could catch a break — from the lenders to the often confused consumers who have to deal with the current system and its four complicated documents from two separate government agencies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on the march once again, and this time its director Richard Cordray is proposing one simple mortgage disclosure form. [More]
Large Credit Reporting Companies Will Now Be Under The CFPB’s Watchful Eye
By July 16, 2012
The 30 largest credit reporting companies are about to have a brand new babysitter on the case — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says it will be begin to supervise those companies starting this fall. Together, they account for 94% of the market’s annual receipts. [More]
CFPB Naming Names With Release Of Complaints Against Credit Card Companies
By June 19, 2012
Credit card companies are probably shaking in their various fee-laden boots, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is making good on a big promise today with the release of its database of consumer complaints leveled against those companies. [More]
Consumers Union Urges CFPB To Regulate Prepaid Credit Cards More Closely
By May 23, 2012
Using a prepaid credit card and reloading at your convenience sounds like a great idea in theory, but there are many hidden fees and dangers involved. That’s why the Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, is urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today to adopt new rules to protect consumers who rely on prepaid cards. [More]
CFPB Creates New Office To Focus On Diversity In The Financial Industry
By April 30, 2012
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a new appointment today, that of Stuart Ishimaru as the leader of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at the bureau. Previously, Ishimaru was the acting chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. So he knows his stuff, ostensibly. [More]
CFPB Checking Out The $31 Billion Banks Charged In Overdraft Fees
By April 20, 2012
If banks had boots, mayhap they’d be quaking them right about now: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on the case, reviewing nine U.S. banks over their practices to see if they’re on the up and up when it comes to charging overdraft fees. [More]
CFPB Rolls Out Tool To Help Students Comparison Shop For Financial Aid
By April 12, 2012
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is in its infancy, but already it’s taking steps to create tools that can help people in a very real way. It rolled out a beta version of a cost comparison shopping tool, aimed at guiding students and their families through the process of researching financial aid options. [More]
CFPB Working On Rules To Whip Mortgage-Servicing Industry Into Shape
By April 10, 2012
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is sinking its teeth into its new watchdog role, as today they’re expected to announce a few rules they’re working on to try and clean up the mortgage-servicing industry. Here’s where we imagine banks quaking in their big ol’ boots. [More]
CFPB Now Answering Your Finance Questions
By March 23, 2012
Want to know who you need to call when disputing an error on your credit report? Are you curious about what a “reverse mortgage” is? Well, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has just launched a new interactive service that fields questions like these and provides answers without all the usual fancy finance jargon. [More]
CFPB Seeking To Get Credit Bureaus & Debt Collectors Under Its Watch
By February 16, 2012
Now that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finally has a director, Richard Cordray, it’s making some big moves to bring in debt collectors and credit bureaus under the umbrella of industries they want to supervise. [More]
Republicans: Expect Legal Challenges To Richard Cordray's 'Invalid' Appointment As CFPB Head
By January 31, 2012
Republican senators have a buzzy little bee in their collective bonnets over the appointment of Richard Cordray as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. See, they’re mad that President Obama took it upon himself to finalize the deed while the Senate was in recess, and say his “invalid” appointment will hurt business. [More]
President To Just Go Ahead And Appoint Cordray As Financial Protection Chief
By January 4, 2012
It’s been nearly six months since President Obama picked former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as his nominee to head the recently created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But with Senate Republicans continuing to block a vote on Cordray’s appointment, the President has decided to go ahead and use his authority to fill the position by making a recess appointment. [More]
Republican Senator Summons Soviet Russia Comparison For Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
By December 12, 2011
After Republicans blocked the confirmation of Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, North Carolina’s Sen. Lindsey Graham is explaining that he just doesn’t want a Soviet dictator like Joseph Stalin to have so much control. Ostensibly in this comparison, Cordray is Stalin? We’re not quite sure. [More]
