During a congressional oversight hearing, House Financial Services Committee members grilled CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger on the bureau’s interpretation of the abusiveness standard, plans to reform the qualified-mortgage rule and the controversial RESPA bulletin.

The consumer watchdog hiked its budget for 2020, taking its spending to levels last seen in 2017.

Two top Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee are pressing for the immediate suspension of a newly-formed task force on federal consumer law.

The bureau has released three surveys as part of its review of the integrated mortgage disclosure rule. According to comments received so far, the industry seeks clarity in the rule’s timing requirements.

Legislation was introduced in the House to prohibit credit bureaus from creating and selling trigger leads. Brokers support the bill.

The CFPB late January sued Citizens Bank for alleged credit card errors. The lawsuit raises questions about consistency in the bureau’s enforcement strategy under its current leadership.

Before a district court in New York, the CFPB argued that its funding source, which falls outside the appropriations process, is constitutional. The case stems from a dispute arising out of a civil investigative demand.

Fitch Ratings raised concerns about the CFPB’s plan to move away from the debt-to-income ratio in defining a qualified mortgage. It believes the DTI ratio is a better predictor of borrower default risk.

CFPB-Education Department MOU; CFPB’s associate director for research, markets and regulation resigns; Puerto Rico reporting requirements; debt collection event.

The CFPB intends to do away with the debt-to-income metric as a mortgage underwriting factor and instead consider an alternative to assess a borrower’s ability to repay. The news drew mixed reactions.