The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has made strides in the mortgage market over the course of the last year, including the finalization of a host of new mortgage rules, the collection of mortgage complaints, and the enforcement of existing lending laws, the agency’s director reported before members of Congress this week.
In particular, Director Richard Cordray cited work toward the qualified mortgage rule, the most hotly contested rule in recent memory, as having made progress toward safe and transparent lending in his testimony before Senate Banking Committee members in his semi-annual report to Congress.
“Over the past year, we have enacted a number of new rules to meet the mandates of the Dodd-Frank Act,” Cordray said, citing the QM rule, servicing rule and remittance rule, all of which aim to reshape the mortgage market.
“Since then, the Bureau has focused on making sure that businesses – both small and large – have what they need from a practical and operational standpoint to understand and comply with our new regulations, which are designed both to help consumers and create a level and fair playing field for companies that play by the rules,” he said.
The agency has also begun to collect complaints on financial products, including mortgages, and has tallied a total of 230,000 complains across products since it began collecting them in March.
The changes under way are contributing positively, Cordray said, as they were intended to first protect consumers in the financial products marketplace.
“Through fair rules, consistent oversight, appropriate enforcement of the law, and broad-based consumer engagement, the Bureau is helping to restore families’ trust in consumer financial markets, protect consumers from improper conduct, and ensure access to fair, competitive and transparent markets,” he said.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
