“Equifax’s credit monitoring product contains a mandatory arbitration clause that denies people their right to join together to sue the company for wrongdoing,” the bureau spokesman said.
An official from the CFPB confirmed late last week the agency is looking into the massive data breach at Equifax, widely seen as the most significant, and potentially most damaging, so far in the age of the Internet. A spokesman for the bureau told this newsletter, “The CFPB has authority over the consumer reporting industry, including supervisory and enforcement authority. The CFPB is authorized to take enforcement action against institutions engaged in unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices, or that otherwise violate federal consumer financial laws. We are looking into the data breach and Equifax’s response, but cannot comment further at this time.” However, it’s not just the occurrence of the breach that bothers the consumer regulator. As part ...
CFPB Director Richard Cordray is still on the job, but did take a step toward throwing his hat into the ring for the race for the Ohio governor’s mansion, delivering remarks at the Labor Day Picnic of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO. Cordray, sounding like a political candidate, according to those in attendance, briefly extolled all the work the bureau has done on behalf of consumers, including the mortgage reforms that have forced so much change upon lenders. The director noted, “So far, our enforcement work has led to about $12 billion in relief to 30 million people who were cheated or mistreated, and who deserve to get things fixed and get their money back.” His remarks also harkened back to his ...
The CFPB’s final rule banning arbitration agreements, as well as pending rulemakings on payday and small-dollar lending and on debt collection practices, may live or die on the decision of Director Richard Cordray to exit his term before it expires in July. That prospect could be motivating him to linger in his current gig as opposed to resigning right now to enter the race for Ohio’s governorship, according to an analysis of the current lay of the land at the bureau from a former senior official at the agency. Former CFPB Assistant Director and Deputy General Counsel Quyen Truong, now a partner at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in DC, noted that it is still unclear whether Republicans in the ...