Covid, payday loans, student debt — here are the issues Biden’s consumer bureau may tackle – CNBC
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to become a more aggressive consumer watchdog under the Biden administration.
- Consumer advocates say the bureau was almost entirely declawed under former president Donald Trump. Biden nominated Rohit Chopra, a former student loan official at the Obama-era agency, to head the CFPB.
- Likely focus areas include: Covid’s financial impact, debt collection, student loans, payday loans, credit reporting, overdraft fees, racial equity and arbitration.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to become a more aggressive consumer watchdog under the Biden administration and while the coronavirus pandemic hurls financial challenges at millions of Americans.
Consumer advocates say the bureau was almost entirely declawed under former president Donald Trump, and during his tenure enforcement action steeply declined. The agency was created in 2010 after the previous economic downturn to protect people from predatory lenders.
Now, it’s anticipated that the CFPB will more aggressively investigate consumer complaints and take action against companies that violate the law. To lead it, President Biden has nominated 38-year-old Rohit Chopra, a longtime consumer advocate and a former student loan ombudsman at the CFPB.
Of course, some were skeptical of the agency’s work during the Obama administration, when Biden served as vice president. Mick Mulvaney, who served as Trump’s acting CFPB director, at one time called the agency a “joke” in “a sick, sad kind of way.”