Maxine Waters also requests President-Elect Joe Biden’s administration remove CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger and issue an order on suspension of debt collection during the pandemic. Editor’s note: This article is available for members only.
12/7/2020 10:30
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, has called for sweeping measures under President-Elect Joe Biden’s administration impacting oversight of the accounts receivable management (ARM) industry and its ability to work with consumers.
In a letter to Biden, Waters seeks to reverse actions of the Trump administration, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s debt collection rule and appointment of Director Kathy Kraninger.
“ACA International expects changes with any administration and continues to work with legislators on both sides of the aisle to continue to educate them about the work of the ARM industry in helping businesses throughout the country and preserving consumers’ ability to access credit. However, these requests aim to reverse course on work the CFPB did during both Republican and Democrat administrations and would ultimately harm consumers,” said ACA International’s Vice President and Senior Counsel of Federal Advocacy Leah Dempsey.
The requests also include:
- Under new leadership, direct the CFPB to aggressively protect consumers by enforcing the law, including protections provided under the CARES Act, as well as other consumer financial protection laws, such as the prohibition on unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP).
- In conjunction with the prudential regulators, the CFPB should issue strong guidance to the financial institutions to ensure they are doing all they can to provide appropriate forbearance and loan modifications for affected borrowers. The CFPB should also rescind prior actions to relax enforcement of time limits for consumer reporting agencies or furnishers to investigate consumer report disputes.
- The CFPB should immediately begin work to replace the “Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans” rule with a rule that protects consumers from predatory lenders.
- The new director should restore the roles and responsibilities of the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity.
- The CFPB should issue a presidential executive order directing the U.S. Department of the Treasury and other agencies to immediately suspend the collection of debts owed by consumers to the federal government until after the pandemic ends.
Waters is also calling for stronger consumer safeguards for credit reporting and student lending.
Included with the letter is a list of regulations and other executive actions taken by the Trump administration over the past four years within the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Financial Services that Waters is requesting for the Biden administration to reverse, according to a news release.