Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Consumer First Act, a bill introduced last fall by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) to protect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle it.
Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (www.ncrc.org), made the following statement:
“We applaud the House’s efforts to do what is right for American consumers and pass the Consumer First Act. Since the act reinstates the full function and authority of the CFPB, it will ensure that consumers are once again receiving federal protection from the fair lending and student loan offices and that the CFPB is fully staffed.
“The CFPB hasn’t been standing up for consumers the way it was intended. Even as this bill came up for a vote, the agency was working on a plan to exempt more than half the nation’s banks and other lenders from having to report on their mortgage lending under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. That data, which lenders have been gathering and reporting for years, is critical to spotting discrimination in lending and as an early warning on risky lending behavior. The agency that’s supposed to protect consumers is focused on hiding critical information from them. That’s crazy. This bill sets CFPB back on track.
“Senate, now it is your turn to do the right thing.”
