Chicago, IL-based payday lender fined; Sen. Warren presses Wells on student account fee; Kraninger’s listening tour update.

The CFPB last week fined a broker $1 for bilking veterans out of their pensions. It is the third enforcement action this month by the consumer watchdog, now led by Director Kathy Kraninger.

Sterling Jewelers will pay $11 million in penalties to settle claims that it opened credit accounts without consumer consent.

Republican lawmakers want the CFPB to be led by an independent inspector general appointed by the president.

CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger assured Republican senators that the CFPB will examine industry concerns regarding the integrated mortgage disclosure rule.

Chris D’Angelo, associate director of the supervision and enforcement division at the CFPB, is departing. In February, he will join the New York attorney general’s office as chief deputy attorney general for economic justice.

The CFPB is seeking a legislative fix to give it clear authority to supervise institutions to ensure compliance with the Military Lending Act.

Most mortgage-related complaints from servicemembers are related to servicing payments, according to an annual report by the CFPB’s Office of Servicemember Affairs.

Mortgage-related consumer complaints filed with the CFPB dropped 21.5 percent last year to a mere 23,991 — the lowest number since the agency opened its door, according to a new analysis by Inside the CFPB. [Includes two data charts.]

The critical ability-to-repay provision related to the 2017 payday lending rule is likely to be scrapped by the CFPB, industry attorneys observed.