Consumer Law

More on the CFPB's Agenda

By Jeff Sovern

by Jeff Sovern

The National Law Journal has an interesting article on the response of lawyers representing businesses to the CFPB, headlined "Agenda Unknown" (I can't post a link because it requires a subscription).  As the headline implies, the basic idea is that they can't predict what the Bureau will do.  I cannot help but wonder whether industry lawyers had a clearer understanding of, say, the FTC's agenda when it was first ramping up.  The piece also mentions some Bureau hires and offers speculation about who the first Director will be.  Here's a quote that is particularly entertaining:

[Stephen] Ryan of McDermott Will [& Emery] predicted the bureau will move swiftly to crack down on pay-day and tax-refund loans.

But he noted that millions of people use these products, and taking them away amounts to "treating taxpayers like dogs not allowed to eat the dog food they want." As the bureau moves forward, Ryan said, he hopes its focus will be on "notice, education and transparency, rather than telling people they can't do something."

Looks like the lobbying has begun.  Since we know that notice, education, and transparency often don't affect consumer decisions, that may among to little more than permitting lenders to continue doing what they're doing and just providing consumers more disclosures they ignore.

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on February 07, 2011 (boomark / email).