CFPB advisory committee meets by conference call; the bureau issues a financial report for FY2018 that details employee numbers, funding transfer requests and enforcement actions; and other federal agencies propose a rule to raise the appraisal exemption for rural properties.

The implementation of the qualified-mortgage standard has reduced the incidence of lending to consumers with high debt-to-income ratios among nonconforming mortgage applications, and significantly increased the cost of credit, according to the Federal Reserve.

Lenders no longer need to start complying with the CFPB’s payday-lending rule on Aug. 19, 2019, a judge ruled. In an unexpected development, Judge Lee Yeakel of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas Austin Division last week reversed his prior orders that denied the request to delay the compliance date of the payday rule. The case was filed by two industry groups – Community Financial Services Association of America and Consumer Service Alliance of Texas ...

A union representing CFPB employees recently asked the agency to halt the reorganization of the fair lending office, alleging the bureau did not bargain with the union in good faith. The reorganization was announced in January, but the CFPB is still negotiating the matter with the National Treasury Employees Union. The NTEU in late October filed a mass grievance against the CFPB over its handling of racially tinged blogs posted by Eric Blankenstein

The CFPB’s recent complaint snapshot report hinted at a possible focus of the upcoming debt collection rules, said attorneys. Credit reporting, debt collection, and mortgage continued to be the three categories that drew the most consumer complaints, according to the report. Among public gripes regarding debt collection practices, some 40 percent said companies “attempt to collect debt not owed.” It is a significant trend, said attorneys, because Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney ...

Former CFPB Director Loses in the Ohio Governor’s Race. Former CFPB Director Richard Cordray lost in the Ohio governor’s race last week. Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine led a GOP sweep of statewide nonjudicial offices. In his campaign, Cordray boasted of his record reining in Wall Street during his tenure at the CFPB. He worked as the CFPB director from its inception until 2017, when he quit to run for governor of the Buckeye State [Includes four briefs] ...

Certain potential changes could materially affect origination volume and determine the government-sponsored enterprises’ direction going forward, according to analysts. One of those changes could have a significant impact on the FHA market. Wells Fargo Securities analysts recently looked at three potential developments in the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac sphere and evaluated their effects on the broader mortgage market. Two of those potential changes – loan limits and guarantee fees – are controlled directly by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, while the third relates to the temporary GSE qualified-mortgage exemption, or “QM patch,” which could affect the FHA market. All three factors loom over the mortgage landscape as the FHFA expects a new director in January 2019, who is likely to be more right leaning and could shift the focus back to shrinking the ...

The CFPB is expected to limit the use of disparate-impact analysis under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, as the agency intends to rewrite the ECOA rule, according to attorneys tracking the issue.

The CFPB recently settled with a Tennessee-based payday lender for debt-collection practices, finding some of its activities were “abusive.”

A dozen state attorneys general asked the CFPB to withdraw or make substantial modifications to its proposed trial disclosure program.