Broeksmit criticizes CFPB at annual MBA conference; Senate Democrats ask for remittance rule revisions; bureau reopens payment service comments; CFPB says student borrower finances worsening.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in ruling on the validity of a CFPB 2017 payday lending rule, found the funding structure underlying the agency’s actions unconstitutional. Depending on the results of an appeal, it could spell serious trouble for the bureau.

The American Financial Services Association defended its members following a report from the Center for Responsible Lending that criticized “high-cost installment loans.”

According to one study, payday loans respond to supply and demand and don’t generally march upward to state maximums. However, Georgetown law professor Adam Levitin said the study coded state loan maximums incorrectly, invalidating the findings.

A new academic report calls for the CFPB to require loan modifications on all types of consumer loans using an “ability to pay” standard.

Consumer advocacy groups are hoping their recent lawsuits have set the stage for the Biden administration to overturn lax Trump-era rules.

It is no longer “unfair and abusive” for lenders to make short-term or longer-term balloon-payment loans without reasonably determining that consumers will have the ability to repay the loans.

The CFPB is rushing to get certain rulemakings done this year as the presidential election looms. Most items on the CFPB’s to-do list have deadlines in the fall.

A former economist at the CFPB on his last day accused Trump appointees at the bureau of manipulating the research process to justify the payday lend-ing rule overhaul, according to a leaked memo.

The House Financial Services Committee will continue to provide oversight of CFPB activity, according to the panel’s fall priorities.