On July 21, Acting Director Dave Uejio celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by giving prepared remarks highlighting the CFPB’s activities over the past 10 years in enforcement, consumer empowerment, and racial equity, as well as its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Uejio advised that the CFPB’s enforcement and supervision work has resulted in approximately $14.4 billion in consumer relief and that its enforcement actions have resulted in $1.7 billion in civil penalties; however, he notes that there is much more to be done in enforcement.
With respect to consumer empowerment, since 2011 the CFPB has received more than three million complaints, and 99% of the complaints it sends to companies receive a timely response. Recently, the CFPB has received more than 75,000 complaints each month, which is a testament to the scale of the financial hardships in our nation.
When he became the CFPB’s acting director, Uejio placed racial equity at the center of the CFPB’s actions. Noting that “we cannot have a truly competitive, innovative financial marketplace that responds to all consumers’ needs until all consumers are able to enter the marketplace on equal footing with full knowledge and the ability to seek redress,” he advised that a core part of the CFPB’s work on racial and economic equity must be protecting communities of color from predatory financial practices, including predatory payday lending.
As to the CFPB’s COVID-19 response, Uejio focused on the fact that in the coming days and weeks, many local, state, and federal housing protections will end and millions of Americans will face foreclosure and eviction. The CFPB’s new amendments to the mortgage servicing rules will ensure that the millions of homeowners exiting forbearances later this year will have the time and support to make the decision that best fits their individual and family needs. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium that was bolstered with a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act rule is ending on July 31, and millions of renters may soon seek housing. Uejio notes that the CFPB will closely monitor compliance and will use all of its tools, including enforcement, to protect consumers during this critical transition.