The official told lawmakers Thursday that the research underlying the bureau's 2017 payday rule proposal did not support strict underwriting requirements of small-dollar loans.
Eric Blankenstein, the CFPB's policy director for supervision, enforcement and fair lending, has been criticized for using a racial slur in blog posts 15 years ago and claiming the majority of hate crimes were hoaxes.
Brian Johnson, a Republican political appointee at the CFPB, has been named the agency's deputy director, the No. 2 job behind Director Kathy Kraninger.
The agency launched a review to gauge whether the regulation requiring consumers to opt in to overdraft protection “should be amended or rescinded” to minimize the effects on smaller financial institutions.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received over a quarter-million complaints in 2018, according to analysis by an advocacy group that urged the agency to maintain public access to its database.
The long-awaited proposal includes safe harbors to protect collectors from getting sued, but would restrict phone collection attempts and allow borrowers to opt out of receiving other communications.
A proposal to give the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau jurisdiction over credit unions with $10 billion or more of assets has sparked a war of words between the longtime foes.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed steps to ease Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requirements, just days after announcing it was retiring a platform to let users analyze raw mortgage data.
Director Kathy Kraninger said the agency will emphasize a confidential supervisory process instead of just doling out public enforcement actions. But skeptics worry this will let companies escape punishment.
