It didn’t take long for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to get its regulatory groove on after President Obama made a recess appointment of Richard Cordray as the agency’s first director. Just hours after the appointment was announced Jan. 4, Cordray revealed the newly empowered bureau was beginning its supervision of non-bank mortgage lenders and other non-bank entities.“One difficulty we faced until now was that, without a director, we were unable to address all the problems we were created to tackle. In particular, we lacked the ability to supervise financial institutions other than big banks – like non-bank mortgage lenders and servicers and payday lenders,” Cordray said in a speech. “Many of these institutions had no regular federal oversight in the run-up to the financial crisis. They led a race to the bottom that pushed aside responsible businesses, including community banks and credit unions, and greatly harmed consumers. “I am pleased to say that we will now be able to exercise the full authorities granted to us under the law and begin to supervise these non-banks,” the new director added.