CFPB Asks Public How It’s Doing

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under Acting Director Mick Mulvaney is seeking out public comment to ascertain if the government watchdog agency is fulfilling its mission.

In a press release issued on Wednesday (Jan. 17), the CFPB said it is issuing a “call for evidence” to make sure the agency, which was created by the Obama administration, is acting in an appropriate manner to best protect consumers. The CFPB said that in the next few weeks it will publish in the Federal Register a series of requests for information, looking for comments on enforcement, supervision, rulemaking, market monitoring and education efforts. The request for information, said the CFPB, will give the public the opportunity to provide feedback and offer up ways to improve the agency.

“In this New Year, and under new leadership, it is natural for the Bureau to critically examine its policies and practices to ensure they align with the Bureau’s statutory mandate. Moving forward, the Bureau will consistently seek out constructive feedback and welcome ideas for improvement,” said Bureau Acting Director Mick Mulvaney in the press release. “Much can be done to facilitate greater consumer choice and efficient markets, while vigorously enforcing consumer financial law in a way that guarantees due process. I look forward to receiving public comments in response to this call for evidence and encourage all interested parties to participate.”

The CFPB said the first request for information will deal with civil investigative demands, which the agency said are issued as part of an enforcement investigation. Comments will help determine if any changes to the processes and procedures are necessary.

The statement on the part of the CFPB comes a day after it said it would reexamine the payday law put into effect under former CFPB Head Richard Cordray. According to a report in The Washington Examiner, Mulvaney said in a statement that: “The bureau intends to engage in a rulemaking process so that the bureau may reconsider the payday rule.”

In October, Cordray finalized the rule that would require lenders to conduct background checks, to show that borrowers can afford the loans and to limit the number of loans made to a single borrower. That rule has received a lot of pushback from payday lenders, which contend that it prohibits them from issuing almost all of the loans they currently grant to consumers. As the rule is reconsidered, the CFPB said it would ponder granting waivers to companies that want to avoid the earliest deadlines it set forth.