Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Congressional method for funding CFPB held unconstitutional

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A three-judge panel of the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on October 19 that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding structure is unconstitutional. *

Rather than receiving its funding through periodic Congressional appropriations, the CFPB is funded directly from the Federal Reserve, which is funded through bank assessments. This funding method was intended to remove some congressional influence on the bureau.

Most federal agencies receive annual appropriations from Congress that are determined each year through legislative negotiations. Many agencies have separate funding sources like fees and assessments collected from the entities they regulate. The arrangement, like CFPB’s, which provides for a continuous funding source, is common among financial regulatory agencies like the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Many commentators have suggested that this opinion will not stand because nothing in the Constitution prevents Congress from funding agencies in a variety of ways. The case is expected to be appealed to the full Fifth Circuit and after that to the Supreme Court. But while this holding stands, it renders all CFPB actions from its inception vulnerable to challenge.

*Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. v. CFPB

CFPB issues proposed rule to ban foreclosures until 2022

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a notice on April 5 proposing an Amendment to Regulation X that would require a temporary COVID-19 emergency pre-foreclosure review period until December 31, 2021, for principal residences. This amendment would, in effect, stall foreclosures on principal residences until January of 2022. The press release, which can be read here, requests public comments on the proposal through May 10, 2021.

The press release states nearly three million borrowers are delinquent in mortgage payments and nearly 1.7 million will exit forbearance programs in September and the following months. The rule proposes to give these borrowers a chance to explore ways to resume making payments and to permit servicers to offer streamlined loan modification options to borrowers with COVID-related hardships.

Under current rules, borrowers must be 120 days delinquent before the foreclosure process can begin. Anticipating a wave of new foreclosures, the CFPB seeks to provide borrowers more time for the opportunity to be evaluated for loss mitigation.

Many provisions of the CARES Act apply only to federally backed mortgages, but the CFPB seeks, by this proposed rules change, to set a blanket standard across the mortgage industry.

CFPB issues a factsheet on title insurance disclosures

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Also updates disclosure FAQs

cfpb-logoThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has recently issued two documents that may help closing attorneys.

The first document is a factsheet on TRID title insurance disclosures. This document addresses differences between state disclosures and TRID disclosures for simultaneous issue rates. It also addresses the situation where the seller pays for title insurance.

The second document is an updated list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures. The additions address seller paid costs, total payments on the closing disclosure, accounting for negative prepaid interest and whether a lender may require the consumer to sign and return the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure.

U. S. Supreme Court rules CFPB structure is unconstitutional

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CFPB building

The Supreme Court issued an order on Monday, June 29 holding that the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is unconstitutional. But the agency has not been abolished.

In a 5-4 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court held that the agency run by a single director who can be fired by the President only for cause violates the separation of powers doctrine. The agency can be saved simply by striking the for-cause termination provision of the Dodd Frank Act.

There will be no immediate effect because the agency is currently being run by an acting director who has not been confirmed by the Senate. For this reason, the director can be fired by the President without case.

In the case, a California law firm alleged that an investigative demand issued by the CFPB is invalid on the grounds that the CFPB’s structure is unconstitutional.

Supreme Court to hear CFPB Constitutionality Challenge

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Seila Law, LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau likely to be heard by mid-2020

CFPB building

The United States Supreme Court has chosen a case to decide the constitutionality of the CFPB. The case is Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (U.S. Supreme Court 19-7). The announcement was made on Friday, December 27. The allegation in question is that the structure of the agency grants too much power to its director, in violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine.

Under the current structure, the director of the CFPB cannot be fired by the president absent “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” The heads of other federal agencies may be removed at the pleasure of the president.

The order posted by the Court requested that both sides address the following question: “If the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is found unconstitutional on the basis of separation of powers, can 12 U.S.C §5491(c)(3) be severed from the Dodd-Frank Act?”

The United States House of Representatives’ motion to file an amicus curiae brief because the Department of Justice has chosen not to defend the constitutionality of the agency.

Concern about the structure of the agency has been voiced since its inception based on the fact that such huge power has been placed in the hands of one individual director. The argument continues that the CFPB has more power than any agency ever created by Congress. While most federal agencies are controlled by commissions or by a director who serves at the pleasure of the President, the CFPB’s sole director is removable only for cause. Also, since all of the funding of the agency is not controlled by Congress, there is little legislative oversight.

In previous hearings, when the CFPB has been asked what the appropriate remedy should be if the structure of the agency is held to be unconstitutional, the CFPB has maintained that formative statute would have to be amended to allow the President to remove the director with or without cause.  Some have suggested that all of the actions of the CFPB might be suspect if its structure is held unconstitutional. Others have suggested that agency should be headed by a multi-person, bi-partisan commission rather than a single director for greater transparency and accountability.

If a decision in the case is announced in mid-2020, the presidential election could be affected since Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s role in creating the agency is a central pillar of her presidential bid.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh has made clear in a previous dissent that he believes the structure of the agency is unconstitutional.

Supreme Court to hear CFPB Challenge

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Seila Law, LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau likely to be heard by mid-2020

CFPB building

The United States Supreme Court announced on Friday, October 18, that it will hear a case challenging the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The allegation in question is that the structure of the agency grants too much power to its director, in violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine.

Under the current structure, the director of the CFPB cannot be fired by the president absent “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” The heads of other federal agencies may be removed at the pleasure of the president.

The order posted by the Court last Friday requested that both sides address whether the CFPB can remain in effect if its structure is found to be unconstitutional.

Concern about the structure of the agency has been voiced since its inception based on the fact that such huge power has been placed in the hands of one individual director. The argument continues that the CFPB has more power than any agency ever created by Congress. While most federal agencies are controlled by commissions or by a director who serves at the pleasure of the President, the CFPB’s sole director is removable only for cause. Also, since all of the funding of the agency is not controlled by Congress, there is little legislative oversight.

In previous hearings, when the CFPB has been asked what the appropriate remedy should be if the structure of the agency is held to be unconstitutional, the CFPB has maintained that formative statute would have to be amended to allow the President to remove the director with or without cause.  Some have suggested that all of the actions of the CFPB might be suspect if its structure is held unconstitutional. Others have suggested that agency should be headed by a multi-person, bi-partisan commission rather than a single director for greater transparency and accountability.

If a decision in the case is announced in mid-2020, the presidential election could be affected since Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s role in creating the agency is a central pillar of her presidential bid.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh has made clear in a previous dissent that he believes the structure of the agency is unconstitutional.

Constitutionality of CFPB upheld

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cfpb-logoThe D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in a case decided last week. This decision reverses the October 11, 2016 holding of a three-judge panel which ruled unanimously that the structure of the CFPB allowed its director to wield too much power.

The highly publicized case began when PHH Corp. was ordered by former CFPB Director Richard Cordray to pay $109 million in restitution resulting from illegal kickbacks to mortgage insurers pursuant to Section 8 of RESPA. An administrative law judge had ordered a $6 million penalty at the trial level, but former Director Cordray apparently wanted to set an example and ordered the “ill-gotten gains” to be disgorged. The trial court had limited the violations to loans that closed on or after July 21, 2008. Director Cordray applied the fines retroactively.

PHH brought suit, arguing that the CFPB is unconstitutional because the Director has the sole authority to issue final decisions, rendering the CFPB’s structure to be in violation of the separation of powers doctrine. The petition stated, “Never before has so much power been consolidated in the hands of one individual, shielded from the President’s control and Congress’s power of the purse.” The petition argued that the Director is only removable for cause, distancing him from the power of the President, and that the agency is distanced from Congress’s power to refuse funding by allowing for funding directly from the Federal Reserve.

The lower Court agreed, writing, “Because the Director alone heads the agency without Presidential supervision, and in light of the CFPB’s broad authority over the U.S. economy, the Director enjoys significantly more unilateral power than any single member of any other independent agency.” The lower Court removed the restriction that the Director can only be removed for cause, giving the President the power to remove the Director at will. The lower Court also reversed former Director Cordray’s retroactive applicability of fines.

The Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the CFPB, preserving the single-director leadership and the independence of the agency. The ruling indicates the President can only fire the Director for cause and allows the current five-year terms to remain in place. Five-year terms will, of course, mean that directors of the agency may remain in place after the termination of the term of the president who appointed him or her.

The CFPB is largely the brain child of the Democratic Party, and Acting Director Mulvaney has taken steps to rein in its power since he was appointed by President Trump. The Court of Appeals ruling was mostly decided on ideological lines. One Republican appointee joined the Democratic appointed judges in upholding the CFPB’s structure.

The Court did rule in favor of PHH by rejecting the large penalty imposed by former Director Cordray. The decision requires that the penalty be reviewed again by the CFPB.

Day of the Dead: Director Cordray didn’t get his Halloween wish

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President Trump signed the legislation repealing the CFPB arbitration rule

As we discussed in this blog last week, the United States Senate recently voted to dispose of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that allowed consumers the right to bring class action lawsuits to resolve financial disputes. Under that rule, banks and credit card companies could not use mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses in the fine print of credit card and checking account agreements.

Day of the DeadThe vote was 51-50 with Vice President Pence casting the deciding vote. The vote in the Senate followed a previous vote with the same result in the House of Representatives, leaving only the stroke of President Trump’s pen to finalize the repeal.

After the Senate’s vote, CPBP director Richard Cordray released a statement stating the action was “a giant setback for every consumer in the country.” “Wall Street won”, he said, “and ordinary people lost.”  Interestingly, Director Cordray wrote a letter directly to President Trump on October 30 pleading with him to save the arbitration rule.

The letter said, “This rule is all about protecting people who simply want to be able to take action together to right the wrongs done to them.” It also appealed to President Trump’s support of veterans and lower income Americans by saying, “I think you really don’t like to see American families, including veterans and service members, get cheated out of their hard-earned money and be left helpless to fight back.”

The letter obviously had no effect. President Trump signed the law on November 1 to the delight of banking and business groups. Director Cordray said, “In signing this resolution, the President signed away consumers’ right to their day in court.”  The Trump administration, however, is clearly in favor of dismantling regulatory efforts it believes may put a damper on the free market in any way.

Trick or Treat!

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Senate votes to rescind CFPB class action rule

Is this action scary for consumers?

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The United States Senate voted last week to dispose of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that allowed banks and credit card companies to use mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses in the fine print of credit card and checking account agreements to deny consumers the right to bring class action lawsuits to resolve financial disputes.

The vote was 51-50 with Vice President Pence casting the deciding vote. Lindsey Graham voted against the repeal. The House of Representatives had already voted to rescind the rule, and President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law.

When the rule was passed last year, CFPB Director Richard Cordray said the purpose was aimed at giving consumers more power by discontinuing the abusive practice of banks inserting arbitration clauses into their contracts for consumer financial products and services and literally “with the stroke of a pen” blocking any group of consumers from filing class action lawsuits. He also said CFPB’s research indicated that these “gotcha” clauses force consumers to litigate over small amounts ($35 – $100) acting alone against some of the largest financial companies in the world. Consumers are forced, he said, to “give up or go it alone.”

After the Senate’s vote last week, Director Cordray released a statement stating the action was “a giant setback for every consumer in this country.”  “Wall Street won”, he said, “and ordinary people lost.”

HousingWire reported on October 30 that Director Cordray wrote a letter directly to President Trump pleading with him to save the arbitration rule. According to the HousingWire report, the letter said, “This rule is all about protecting people who simply want to be able to take action together to right the wrongs done to them.” It also said, “I think you really don’t like to see American families, including veterans and service members, get cheated out of their hard-earned month and be left helpless to fight back.”

Time will tell whether the President will listen to Director Cordray. But it is clear that the CFPB continues its efforts to shake up the market. It has also been clear up to this point Republicans are seeking to dismantle those efforts that they feel hurt the free market.

CFPB announces top TRID mistakes

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cfpb-logoWe’re learning for the first time what the CFPB considers the top mistakes being made by lenders in mortgage originations under TRID. CFPB’s September 2017 Supervisory Highlights reports on the Bureau’s first round of mortgage origination compliance examinations. Prior to these examinations, the Bureau refused to provide a grace period for lender compliance but stated publicly that it would be sensitive to the progress made by lenders who focused on making good faith efforts to comply with the rule.

Some of these mistakes may be attributed, at least from the viewpoint of the lenders who were pinpointed by CFPB, to settlement service providers (real estate lawyers in South Carolina), so we should pay close attention to this list. Failure to pay attention to it may place some of us squarely on lenders’ naughty lists.

This report indicates most lenders were able to effectively implement and comply with the rule changes, but the examiners did find some violations. The following list contains the most common mistakes:

  • Amounts paid by the consumers at closings exceeded the amounts disclosed on the Loan Estimates beyond the applicable tolerance thresholds;
  • The entity or entities failed to retain evidence of compliance with the requirements associated with Loan Estimates;
  • The entity or entities failed to obtain and/or document the consumers’ intent to proceed with the transactions prior to imposing fees in connection with the consumers’ applications;
  • Waivers of the three-day review period did not contain bona fide personal financial emergencies;
  • The entity or entities failed to provide consumers with a list identifying at least one available settlement service provider in cases where the lender permits consumers to shop for settlement services;
  • The entity or entities failed to disclose the amounts payable into an escrow account on the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure when consumers elected to escrow taxes and insurance;
  • Loan Estimates did not include dates and times at which estimated closing costs expire; and
  • The entity or entities failed to properly disclose on the Closing Disclosures fees the consumers paid prior to closing.

The report boasts that the CFPB examiners worked in a collaborative manner with one or more of the entities to identify the root causes of the violations and to determine appropriate corrective actions, including reimbursements to consumers.

The report also covered the Bureau’s supervisory activities outside the mortgage origination arena and indicated nonpublic supervisory resolutions have resulted in total restitution payments of approximately $14 million to more than 104,000 consumers during the review period (January through June, 2017). The CFPB also touted resolutions of public enforcement actions resulting in about $1.15 million in consumer remediation and an additional $1.75 million in civil penalties during the review period.

Despite the notion that the CFPB may be in disfavor in the Trump administration, it remains a powerful body in our industry. Compliance with its directives is crucial to remain in the residential closing business at this point.