Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Myth of the Disappearing Free Checking Account

10/22/15

A regular trope sounded by opponents of consumer financial regulations is that the regulations have resulted in the disappearance of free checking.

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Who's Afraid of a Republican CFPB?

10/17/15

My thoughts on the issue at The American Banker.  Short version: the possibility of a GOP presidential victory in 2016 isn't a good argument for changing the CFPB to a commission structure. 

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Advertising and Payday and Title Lending: How Do Lenders Target Borrowers?

09/13/15

Are bigger payday and title lending companies better for low-income borrowers than smaller companies? Jim Hawkins (Houston Law Center) takes up that question in a new article which reports the results of his study of the advertisements of payday and title loan companies with storefronts in Houston, Texas. The results are quite timely given that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is poised to release regulations for payday lenders.

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CFPB Data Collection

08/18/15

I've got an op-ed in the American Banker about the CFPB's data collection, which has become the latest inside-the-Beltway attack on the CFPB.  

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The Agency That's Got Your Back

08/15/15

Nice piece in Time Magazine on the CFPB here. 

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Consumer Financial Protection Clinic Position

07/30/15

Here's an opportunity to supervise a consumer financial protection clinic that has done some great work - information on the position and how to apply here. 

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Dodd-Frank's Constitutionality

07/22/15

I'm testifying tomorrow before Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on The Constitution (yes, that's the official capitalization), about the constitutionality of the Dodd-Frank Act.  

Short version: nothing to see here folks.

Slightly longer version: really nothing to see here.

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Big Win for CFPB on Debt Collection

07/15/15

Yesterday, Judge Amy Totenberg of the Northern District of Georgia issued a very cogent 70-page opinion in the case of the CFPB v. Frederick Hanna & Associates, a large collection law firm with offices in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. The opinion denies Hanna's motion to dismiss in its entirety, and almost completely agrees with the CFPB's legal theory. In doing so, the opinion deals a serious blow to the collection law firm business model.

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Searching CFPB Consumer Narratives

06/26/15

Yesterday the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) went live with its consumer complaint database, publishing over 7,700 consumer narratives detailing problems they have faced with banks, debt collectors, and other creditors.

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Stale Debts in Bankruptcy

05/07/15

Should liability under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) lie against a creditor who submits a proof of claim past the statute of limitations in a consumer bankruptcy case?

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