In May of last year, then acting Director Mick Mulvaney threatened to end public access to the CFPB’s consumer complaint database, calling it “a Yelp run by the federal government.” He issued two requests for information about complaint reporting and handling processes.But it’s been nearly a year since then, and the bureau still hasn’t decided what it should do with the complaint database.

Consumer complaints filed with the CFPB continued on a downward path in the first quarter, according to a new analysis by Inside the CFPB. [Includes one data chart.]

Mortgage complaints filed with the CFPB declined over the past two years, and the most-criticized category was mortgage servicing, according to a new snapshot. [Includes one data chart.]

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.]

Consumer complaints across major categories saw double-digit declines in the fourth quarter, according to a new analysis by Inside the CFPB. [Includes one data chart.]

The CFPB last week ordered State Farm Bank, a federal savings association in Bloomington, IL, to stop illegal credit reporting practices, without imposing a fine for its wrongdoings.

A memorandum of understanding is in the works at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to clarify the use of the False Claims Act in FHA enforcement. At the same time, the department is considering seeking statutory authority for the Mortgagee Review Board to impose stiffer penalties on lenders for violations that do not require a False Claims Act response. (See following story.) During a public policy luncheon hosted by the Washington-based Women in Housing and Finance this week, HUD Assistant Secretary and FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery said the draft MOU would provide a “level of fairness” in terms of whether the FCA or some other mechanism would be appropriate. Montgomery did not discuss specifics but said the memo would ensure that HUD has a say in what type of offense would qualify for a false claim. Montgomery gave no timeframe for when the ...

The FHA is recommending a statutory change to strengthen the Mortgagee Review Board’s authority in lender enforcement. The agency discussed the merits of enhancing MRB’s powers in a 2018 audit report on the health of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. While the goal of a stronger MRB is not new, it has taken on a new urgency in discussions between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Justice regarding the use of the False Claims Act in FHA enforcement. The DOJ and HUD have used the statute to pursue lenders that have inflicted millions of dollars in losses on FHA due to misrepresentation, carelessness and generally sloppy underwriting. Lenders, on the other hand, have complained about the agencies’ indiscriminate use of the FCA against even the slightest technical error. The FCA and its treble-damages provisions have squeezed billions of dollars ...

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 ...