It was in the news over the last 24 hours that Mick Mulvaney and the CFPB will be centering their focus on Debt Collectors who have traditionally been in the #1 position, as far as complaints go.  For over two years, it was discussed by the payday industry that our group was, month after month, year after year, the industry with the biggest drops in complaint percentages.

The question was always asked, “Why would the CFPB invest so much time on an industry where the complaints are decreasing and are at a much lower level than many others?” Now that we have a level headed individual heading up the CFPB, we are beginning to see some very practical moves being made to re-focus the CFPB’s priorities around the source of the biggest complaints.  Along with that, it does appear that the CFPB is loosening its focus on the so called “payday loan industry.”  That is a good thing for Texans. The Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner is an experienced agency that is more than capable of regulating our space in Texas.

Here are some direct quotes from the Wall Street Journal piece:

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will team up with the Federal Trade Commission to police debt collectors as it shifts to a gentler form of enforcement under the Trump administration.

Mick Mulvaney sees debt collection as an enforcement priority

because the CFPB gets many consumer complaints about that industry, even as the bureau begins to ease its grips on other sectors such as payday lending.

ACA International, a trade association of debt collectors, “welcomes the news of close coordination between the CFPB and FTC,” a spokeswoman said. “We endorse the efforts of the CFPB and the FTC to target bad actors who engage in unlawful debt collection practices.”

“In 2016, almost a third of the complaints into this office related to debt collection. Only 0.9% related to prepaid cards and 2% to payday lending. Data like that should, and will, guide our actions,” Mr. Mulvaney wrote.