Links in “CFPB”

The CFPB's July complaint snapshot finds debt collection (with 31% of the complaints in July) in the top spot, credit reporting (25%) in the second spot, and mortgages (17%) rounding out the top three. Mortgages still hold the top spot overall, accounting for 28% of all complaints since the bureau opened in 2011. [8/26/15]

Here's a break down of a critique of the CFPB's study on consumer arbitration. This critique was published by two university professors, who found that "the CFPB's findings actually undermine several key arguments that are often asserted to justify restrictions on arbitration." [8/26/15]

Are all marketing services agreements illegal? If so, then why does the CFPB let some companies off with no penalties, while it throws the book at other companies? [8/25/15]

Navient, which processes more student loan payments than any firm in the country, is under investigation for allegedly overcharging borrowers and numerous dodgy practices, such as the way its debt-collection unit treats distressed debtors and how its loan-servicing operation interacts with borrowers. [8/25/15]

With the CFPB's recent aggressive action against two pension advance companies, the issue of whether similar claims against providers of merchant cash advances, litigation funding companies and other fund providers who do not require repayment of advances arises. [8/24/15]

The CFPB is going after companies it alleges duped consumers into taking out pension advance loans by deceiving them about the terms of the deal. The California-based companies offered consumers lump-sum cash advances, in return for agreeing to redirect all or part of their pension payments over a period of eight years. The product was in reality a loan with high interest rates and fees. [8/24/15]

With the CFPB's emphasis on its complaint database serving as its eyes and ears, one would think that payday lenders would be near the top of the complaint list, given the CFPB's proposals to nearly regulate the industry out of existence. But complaints against payday lenders constitute less than 1% of the bureau's complaint database. What's at the top? Complaints about mortgages (36%). [8/24/15]

A recent article in the New York Times on the increase in paperless mortgage closings focused on the settlement process at Mountain America CU in Utah, which participated in a CFPB pilot program called eClosings. The Times reported that consumers like “going paperless” and found the electronic closing process made it easier to review documents in advance. [8/21/15]

The CFPB's action against Springstone Financial for its deceptive credit enrollment practices in dental offices shows the the healthcare space is not outside the purview of the CFPB, as many have supposed. The second takeaway is that when staff makes representations that are inconsistent with the loan documents, UDAAP violations may follow. See also here. [8/21/15]

Amid reports that the CFPB has collected financial data on 600 million American financial accounts and does not have the proper safeguards in place to protect the data, the Federal Office of the Inspector General has recently updated its work plan to include a security audit of the agency. [8/21/15]