The Semi-Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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THE SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MARCH 29, 2012 Printed for the use of the Committee on Financial Services Serial No. 112–114 ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 75–086 PDF WASHINGTON : 2012 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:45 Aug 22, 2012 Jkt 075086 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 K:\DOCS\75086.TXT TERRIE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES SPENCER BACHUS, Alabama, Chairman JEB HENSARLING, Texas, Vice Chairman BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts, Ranking PETER T. KING, New York Member EDWARD R. ROYCE, California MAXINE WATERS, California FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York RON PAUL, Texas LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois NYDIA M. VELA´ ZQUEZ, New York WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York GARY G. MILLER, California BRAD SHERMAN, California SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York SCOTT GARRETT, New Jersey MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas RUBE´ N HINOJOSA, Texas PATRICK T. MCHENRY, North Carolina WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri JOHN CAMPBELL, California CAROLYN MCCARTHY, New York MICHELE BACHMANN, Minnesota JOE BACA, California THADDEUS G. McCOTTER, Michigan STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts KEVIN McCARTHY, California BRAD MILLER, North Carolina STEVAN PEARCE, New Mexico DAVID SCOTT, Georgia BILL POSEY, Florida AL GREEN, Texas MICHAEL G. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania EMANUEL CLEAVER, Missouri LYNN A. WESTMORELAND, Georgia GWEN MOORE, Wisconsin BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri KEITH ELLISON, Minnesota BILL HUIZENGA, Michigan ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado SEAN P. DUFFY, Wisconsin JOE DONNELLY, Indiana NAN A. S. HAYWORTH, New York ANDRE´ CARSON, Indiana JAMES B. RENACCI, Ohio JAMES A. HIMES, Connecticut ROBERT HURT, Virginia GARY C. PETERS, Michigan ROBERT J. DOLD, Illinois JOHN C. CARNEY, JR., Delaware DAVID SCHWEIKERT, Arizona MICHAEL G. GRIMM, New York FRANCISCO ‘‘QUICO’’ CANSECO, Texas STEVE STIVERS, Ohio STEPHEN LEE FINCHER, Tennessee JAMES H. CLINGER, Staff Director and Chief Counsel (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:45 Aug 22, 2012 Jkt 075086 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 K:\DOCS\75086.TXT TERRIE C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on: March 29, 2012 ................................................................................................. 1 Appendix: March 29, 2012 ................................................................................................. 49 WITNESSES THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2012 Cordray, Hon. Richard, Director, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ................................................................................................................... 12 APPENDIX Prepared statements: Cordray, Hon. Richard ..................................................................................... 50 ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Cordray, Hon. Richard: ‘‘Semi-Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,’’ dated January 30, 2012 ................................................................................ 53 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:45 Aug 22, 2012 Jkt 075086 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 K:\DOCS\75086.TXT TERRIE VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:45 Aug 22, 2012 Jkt 075086 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 K:\DOCS\75086.TXT TERRIE THE SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU Thursday, March 29, 2012 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:38 a.m., in room 2128, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Spencer Bachus [chair- man of the committee] presiding. Members present: Representatives Bachus, Hensarling, Royce, Biggert, Miller of California, Capito, Garrett, Neugebauer, McHenry, Posey, Westmoreland, Luetkemeyer, Huizenga, Duffy, Renacci, Hurt, Dold, Canseco, Stivers; Frank, Waters, Maloney, Gutierrez, Velazquez, Sherman, Miller of North Carolina, Scott, Green, Cleaver, Donnelly, Carson, and Carney. Chairman BACHUS. The committee will come to order. Mr. Cordray, as you know, we are going to have some vote inter- ruptions and I would like everyone to know, the Members as well as anyone listening, that Mr. Cordray has agreed to stay until 2 p.m., which is a very nice accommodation. We very much appre- ciate that. And we thank you for your attendance today to deliver the semi- annual report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB is an independent Federal agency whose au- thority, as many of us have said, is ‘‘far-reaching;’’ some have said ‘‘unprecedented.’’ Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act confers virtually unfettered discre- tion to the Director to identify financial products and services deemed to be unfair, deceptive or abusive and to ban them under what has been described as a highly subjective standard that has no legally defined content. All of us agree on the need to protect consumers. All of us also agree that every government bureaucracy needs transparency and oversight. The simple truth is that there is no reason we cannot have both robust consumer protection and an agency that is accountable for the action it takes and the resources it uses. The cause of greater accountability was not well-served by the President’s decision to circumvent the advice and the consent of the Senate and install the CFPB’s Director in a constitutionally ques- tionable maneuver. (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:45 Aug 22, 2012 Jkt 075086 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 K:\DOCS\75086.TXT TERRIE 2 As I have told you previously, Mr. Cordray, I believe neither you nor the agency you head were well-served by that decision since it cast a legal cloud over the legitimacy of the Bureau’s regulatory and enforcement activity. And I have also previously stated that this dispute has nothing to do with you personally, but with the structure and lack of ac- countability surrounding the agency you have been asked to lead. The House has passed two bills this Congress, H.R. 1315 and H.R. 4014, that make the CFPB more accountable without in any way hampering its ability to protect consumers. H.R. 1315 includes provisions placing the CFPB under the man- agement of a five-member bipartisan commission, an idea origi- nally proposed by and supported by House Democrats. H.R. 4014, which passed the House just this week with strong bipartisan sup- port and the support of Mr. Cordray, fixes a critical omission in the Dodd-Frank Act that could have resulted in a regulated institution waiving their attorney-client privilege when sharing confidential information with the CFPB. Given that the CFPB is not subject to the annual congressional budget process, hearings like this are essential to the oversight process. In fact, hearings like this are the only opportunity cur- rently available to Congress to exercise any oversight of the CFPB at all. Again, Mr. Cordray, I thank you for your appearance. And I now recognize Mrs. Maloney. Mrs. MALONEY. Okay. Is Mr. Frank coming, or should we wait for him? Chairman BACHUS. We are going to— Mrs. MALONEY. First of all, I would like to—should I wait for Mr. Frank or— Chairman BACHUS. I will allow Mr. Frank to come in and make an opening statement. Or would you like Mr. Hensarling— Mrs. MALONEY. Okay. I will just go ahead, in the interest of time. First of all, I would like to welcome Director Cordray and really thank you for your impressive accomplishments so far. I know that when we were doing the markup on Dodd-Frank, I offered an amendment that called for an annual report and oversight by this committee of the CFPB. That was later amended to make it a semi-annual report to Con- gress. But if I had known that you would be before this body, or someone as senior as yourself would be before this body 15 times so far this year alone, I would not have offered that amendment, because you have been very accountable to us and to this Congress. And I would like to say it was great to have you in my district in New York, where you discussed and launched an inquiry into overdraft practices. I know that you have had similar meetings across this country with various concerns from student loans to mortgages to just general concerns of consumers. And as we reach the 3-month anniversary of the CFPB as a fully operational agency, I would like to note some of the Bureau’s out- standing work. VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:45 Aug 22, 2012 Jkt 075086 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 K:\DOCS\75086.TXT TERRIE 3 While some will undoubtedly continue to define the CFPB as an unchecked agency, I believe that the Bureau’s accomplishments and oversight have been extraordinary. The Bureau has initiated an examination into the growing level of student loan debt and its ramifications on our economic recovery. It is tirelessly helping consumers understand financial products and services through the ‘‘Know Before You Owe’’ Program. The Bureau has taken great steps to curtail deceptive, unfair, and abusive debt collection practices. They have modified and put forward a simplified mortgage application that people can actually understand. And the Bureau is resolving consumer complaints, launching bank and nonbank supervision programs, developing simple disclo- sures for credit cards and other financial products, targeting spe- cific abuses aimed at older Americans and servicemembers, and creating offices just to address these concerns. I think this is a great list of accomplishments for a new agency. And from what I can see in your report, it is just the beginning. I hope that during this hearing we can focus on what the CFPB has laid out in its report rather than constant complaints that there is not enough oversight or accountability. The Bureau’s structure, the positive GAO report, the very fact that Director Cordray is appearing today before us in his 15th ap- pearance, or of other senior staff, is a testimonial to the number of checks placed on the Bureau.