The Long Shadow of Bad Credit in Job Search Over the last several decades, credit reporting bureaus have been selling their services to a much wider range of buyers than just banks. Nearly half of employers use credit checks when … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed a complaint in a federal district court in New York against two debt-relief service providers. The companies allegedly charged consumers illegal advance fees for debt-settlement services. The CFPB is trying to stop their … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is adjusting its rule that creates certain protections for consumers that send money overseas via international money transfers. The rule was first proposed on December 31, 2012 and will take effect on October 28, 2013. Under the … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has adjusted one provision from the CARD Act in order to make it easier for spouses or partners who do not work outside the home to qualify for credit cards. It now allows credit card issuers to consider income … Continue reading
Richard Cordray is scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking Committee today, but the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee refuses to let him testify before the House panel because he hasn't been approved by the Senate. Representative Jeb … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is turning its attention to auto lenders. The CFPB says some lenders may be giving auto loans through auto dealerships that charge minorities above-market interest rates. It says the potentially discriminatory markups in auto lending … Continue reading
Lawmakers Target Unfair Overdraft Charges Democrats have introduced a bill that would limit the cost of overdraft fees and prohibit practices that increase the likelihood customers will overdraw their accounts. The Overdraft Protection Act would prohibit financial institutions from charging more … Continue reading
The nomination of Richard Cordray to again head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was approved by the U.S. Senate Banking Committee by a 12-10 vote that was split down party lines. Every Democrat on the Committee approved Cordray, every Republican … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a new rule that would allow it to supervise some nonbank student loan servicers and bring new regulation to a quickly expanding market. The new rule would let the CFPB access the whole process … Continue reading
After this week's confirmation hearings, Republican senators continue to block the nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. However, a Senate panel has scheduled a meeting for March 19 to vote on Cordray, as well as … Continue reading
Richard Cordray, the current director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will face the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, March 12, on his re-nomination to head the agency. Cordray was nominated by President Obama in January but his confirmation has … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received a second letter from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, calling on the agency to make some significant changes in its operation. David Hirschmann, the senior vice president of the Chamber, sent a letter … Continue reading
The re-nomination of Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau remains a political hot button. Cordray can be confirmed by majority vote in the Senate, but a minority of 40 Senators can block an agreement to hold … Continue reading
N.J. Calls Off Credit Card Pitches to Students at Public Colleges Companies that issue credit cards can no longer market them to students at New Jersey public colleges under a law Gov. Christie signed Thursday. The new law prohibits public … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is launching an inquiry into the impact of financial products marketed to students through colleges and universities. It will then determine whether these arrangements are in the best interest of students. "We have seen many … Continue reading
Secrets of Mobile Success: Cost-Cutting Banks Seek Smartphone Customers Strapped for new revenue and pressed into waves of cost cuts, the country's largest banks are trying to keep the customers they have, woo the ones they don't and do it … Continue reading
Enforcement actions against credit card issuers and new mortgage guidelines instituted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may now be in jeopardy. Last Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with Republican lawmakers that the … Continue reading
With Cordray Nomination, Obama Renews Fight With GOP President Obama renominated Richard Cordray for head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday. Cordray is currently serving in the post thanks to a recess appointment. A year and a half ago, … Continue reading
President Obama today re-nominated Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This will be Cordray's first permanent term. He was selected for the post as a recess appointment in January 2012, which did not require Senate confirmation. … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to bring transparency and accountability to consumer reporting agencies. Today, the CFPB warned specialty credit reporting agencies that they may be violating federal law by not providing consumers with easy access to credit reports. … Continue reading
Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launched a project to encourage consumer-friendly innovation and entrepreneurship for consumer financial products and services. The initiative, Project Catalyst, is an attempt by the CFPB to give consumers access to fair, transparent, competitive, and … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its first Supervisory Highlights report yesterday, describing the problems and risky practices that its investigators found during their supervision process. The CFPB can supervise a number of financial institutions including banks with over $10 billion … Continue reading
Beginning January 2, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be supervising large debt collectors. Any firm with more than $10 million in annual receipts from consumer debt collection will be subject to CFPB supervision. This includes 175 debt collectors … Continue reading
Credit Cards Charge Up Healthy Margins Consumer confidence is up, and household debt is down. That's good news for retailers. It's also good for credit card processors Visa and MasterCard. Strong revenue is only part of the story. Leveraging profits … Continue reading
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing a new rule to make it easier for stay-at-home spouses to obtain a credit card. The CFPB proposal allows the stay-at-home spouse or partner to rely on shared income when applying for … Continue reading
U.S. Credit Card Lenders Shun Add-Ons as CFPB Cracks Down Chase, Bank of America and American Express are among credit card lenders retreating from a $2.4 billion market as regulators seek curbs on deceptive marketing of products including debt cancellation. Scrutiny … Continue reading
The credit score you purchase from a credit reporting agency may be very different from the score your lender sees. Lender's scoring models place nearly one in five consumers in different credit categories, according to a new report by the Consumer … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans on revising a rule that currently prevents many stay-at-home spouses from obtaining their own credit card. A 2009 CARD Act provision currently mandates issuers look at a consumer's individual income, rather than their household … Continue reading
In its first 14 months of operation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has not received as many credit card complaints as it anticipated. Yesterday, the director of the CFPB, Richard Cordray, presented his semi-annual report. He told Congress, "We have … Continue reading
Despite protests from the financial industry, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is making its online credit card complaint database available to the public today. The information can show which issuers have had the most complaints on their cards and how … Continue reading