Don’t ignore this topic; it’s important for bankruptcy practitioners to know about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and educate their clients (whether consumers or creditors). Here are a few tips we learned about the CFPB at the 2016 NACTT Conference a couple of weeks ago.
- Consumers, debtors’ attorneys, and creditors’ attorneys really need to know about the CFPB!
- The CFPB has supervisory, regulatory, and enforcement authority over various consumer financial services and laws.
- Activities and entities covered include: debt collection, credit reporting, mortgage servicers, private student loan lenders and servicers, payday lenders, and many others.
- The CFPB website (www.consumerfinance.gov) has lots of useful information.
- Debtors’ attorneys might want to print out some of the brochures and give them to their clients.
- Everyone should peruse the Consumer Complaint Database to see what some of the hot issues are (like collection of medical debts). Consumer complaints are very effective.
- Creditors’ attorneys need to follow CFPB enforcement actions. Consent orders may not be binding on other parties but they offer guidance on what conduct the CFPB finds improper or unlawful.
- Recent CFPB consent orders with debt buyers and sellers offer guidance on issues that might be grounds for objecting to claims in bankruptcy. For example, one consent order demonstrated how a debt buyer took collection action against consumers based on inaccurate account records.
- The CFPB is expected to issue new rules governing debt collection (and on July 28, 2016, announced its proposal. http://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-considers-proposal-overhaul-debt-collection-market/).
- In the long run, the quality of claims filed in bankruptcy cases should improve due to the actions of the CFPB in its oversight of the debt buying and selling industry.
- OMG!: Attorneys are not necessarily exempt from CFPB oversight and enforcement.
