"It's a fairness issue," says the acting director
The acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says there are going to be some changes to the way the agency regulates.
In a keynote speech at a the annual legislative meeting and trade expo of the National Association of Realtors, Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney said that the bureau would no longer practice what he called “regulation by enforcement.”
“The regulation by enforcement answer is really simple – we aren’t doing it anymore,” Mulvaney said. “It’s a fairness issue. If you’ve done something for so long and the government wants to change the rules, shouldn’t’ the government have to tell you they are changing the rules before they fine you?”
Mulvaney said his goal at the CFPB was to bring clarity to both consumers and businesses about what is and is not legal, according to a report by Builder. Mulvaney lashed out at the Obama administration, saying that under that administration, businesses were punished for legal business practices that the administration simply felt should be illegal.
“We are not out to make you look like a bad guy if you are not,” Mulvaney said. “We are out to enforce the law, not become the law.”
Mulvaney also said he wanted to do away with overly burdensome regulations, Builder reported.
“NAR is encouraged by the new direction of the bureau under Director Mulvaney’s leadership – specifically, plans to decrease unnecessary regulatory burdens in line with the current administration,” said NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall. “NAR has been supportive of legislation that promises to reduce burdensome requirements, including for smaller creditors, to facilitate increased lending, and we are hopeful such changes will move through Congress soon.
