The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a motion to dismiss the case currently challenging President Barack Obama’s recess appointment of Director Richard Cordray on the grounds of lacking standing.
In June State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas and two nonprofits — 60 Plus Association and Competitive Enterprise Institute — filed the complaint, claiming the president’s means for appointing Cordray were invalid because the Senate was not in recess at the time the director’s appointment.
The CFPB, Treasury Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, and other federal banking agencies argue State National Bank lacks standing, meaning the party cannot show the court sufficient connection to and harm from the action challenged.
State National claims that the CFPB Unfair, Deceptive and Abusive Acts or Practices caused the lender to exit the mortgage lending business. The CFPB motion maintains that claim does not give the bank standing to challenge the constitutionality of recess appointment.
The defendants also argue that “because the regulation was promulgated pursuant to the CFPB’s authority to implement the Electronic Fund Transfer Act rather than its UDAAP authority, the regulation does not give SNB standing to challenge the CFPB’s constitutionality based on its UDAAP authority.”
