CFPB Issues Semi-Annual Report to Congress

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently published its 11th Semi-Annual Report to Congress, covering the period from October 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017. The report includes information on the agency’s consumer complaint process, supervisory actions, the implementation of new regulations, enforcement activity, budgeting, and testimony before Congress, among other things. The twice-a-year review of agency activity is required by the Dodd-Frank Act.

Since the database’s inception on July 21, 2011, the CFPB has fielded more than 1.1 million consumer complaints regarding credit reporting, debt collections, student loans, mortgages, and other consumer financial services, with almost 750,000 complaints ultimately published in the agency’s public database by March 2017. During the six month period covered by the CFPB’s report, the agency recovered $6.2 million for nearly 17,000 consumers harmed by unlawful practices and imposed nearly $250 million in fines, penalties, and restitution on companies for violations of consumer protection laws.  

Regulatory rulemaking during this period focused heavily on mortgage disclosures and prepaid money accounts. Although the agency touted its supervisory activity over certain financial institutions with assets of more than $10 billion, the Chairman of the National Credit Union Association (NCUA) recently wrote a letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray asking to shift supervision of credit unions currently under the CFPB’s umbrella of authority to the NCUA. The CFPB is focusing much of its supervisory efforts on debt collections, auto loan origination, mortgage origination, and student loan servicing. Although not currently scheduled, the CFPB often appears before the House Financial Services Committee to discuss the findings of the Semi-Annual Report.

Read the full report here.