Rocket Fuel Newsletter – The CFPB: Protecting consumers since 2011
This week, learn all about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the important role it plays in protecting consumers.
Fuel up! 🚀
The CFPB
In response to the turmoil brought on by the Great Recession of 2008, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was passed in 2010, which led to the creation of the CFPB the following year.
Prior to the Dodd-Frank act, there was inconsistent enforcement of consumer financial protection. The overall purpose of the CFPB was to consolidate consumer financial protection authorities that had previously been scattered across many different federal agencies and to have a single entity focused on ensuring consumer financial markets work effectively.
Right now, the CFPB’s mission statement is:
We aim to make consumer financial markets work for consumers, responsible providers, and the economy. We protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices, and take action against companies that break the law. We arm people with the information, steps, and tools that they need to make smart financial decisions.
The CFPB is designed to provide a single point of accountability for enforcing federal consumer financial laws and protecting consumers in the financial marketplace. Its work involves:
- Rooting out unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices by writing rules, supervising companies, and enforcing the law
- Enforcing laws that outlaw discrimination in consumer finance
- Taking consumer complaints
- Enhancing financial education
- Researching the consumer experience of using financial products
- Monitoring financial markets for new risks to consumers
Since its inception, the CFPB has provided everyday Americans with over $21 billion in monetary compensation. It has done this with principal reductions, canceled debts, and other consumer relief, including CFPB enforcement ($19 billion) and supervisory ($1.7 billion) work.
While no government agency is perfect, the CFPB plays an essential role in protecting everyday Americans from unfair, deceptive, and abusive financial practices.
Recently there have been threats to potentially shut down the CFPB without a clear plan for how these critical consumer protections will be maintained elsewhere, and doing so could be highly problematic. Dismantling the CFPB risks leaving millions of Americans vulnerable to the types of predatory lending and risky financial products that produced the Great Recession.
Any changes to the CFPB's structure or mandate should be taken with caution and with a focus on preserving its core mission of ensuring consumer financial markets work effectively for all. Weakening or eliminating this agency could have serious consequences for the financial security of hardworking families across the country.
Read more about the CFPB here and here.
Trade shows are great places to network, learn, and grow together. Don’t forget to gear up for purchase season by attending one of our upcoming events:
- February 16–18: Conference for Community Bankers – Phoenix, AZ
- February 18: Texas Mortgage Roundup – Austin, TX Free registration available with code ROCKETFREE)
- February 25: California Mortgage Expo – Sacramento, CA (Free registration available with code ROCKETFREE)
Set yourself up for a successful year by securing your place today.
Great times last week! Our four fastest all finished in less than a minute, with our winner coming in at just 33 seconds.
This week’s puzzle gets 3 Rockets out of 5.
Good luck!