The Director of the CFPB Requests Zero Funding

In his first quarterly funding request as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Mick Mulvaney asked for nothing. "This letter is to inform you that for the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2018, the Bureau is requesting $0," he wrote to the Federal Reserve, which provides the agency's funding. Mr. Mulvaney stated his reason for this request: The CFPB already has sufficient funds to carry out its mandates, and he saw no practical reason for the CFPB to maintain a large “reserve fund.”

This is yet another indication of the hands off regulatory approach that Mr. Mulvaney intends for the CFPB. Since the CFPB is the primary enforcer of RESPA, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, a consumer protection statute passed by the U.S. Congress in 1974. The statute has two main purposes: To help consumers become better shoppers for settlement services; and To eliminate kickbacks and referral fees that may increase the costs of certain settlement services.

It would appear there will no longer be anyone looking out for the fox. Consumers beware!