As we predicted after the Biden-Harris Administration took office, there was always going to be a new-look CFPB with a more aggressive approach to oversight. After several months the U.S. Senate has finally confirmed Rohit Chopra as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a vote of 50 to 48 in favor.

Mr. Chopra, a protege of the CFPB’s first advocate Sen Elizabeth Warren, was instrumental in setting up the bureau following the 2010 passage of the Dodd-Frank Act and also served as the CFPB’s first student loan ombudsman. 

Industry insiders are expecting the new director to lead a much more aggressive, litigation focused, and examination dedicated organization. This spells certain trouble for mortgage lenders who have understandably relaxed their compliance focus during the four-year Trump Administration’s hands-off policy towards financial regulation.

At least one industry expert has opinionated that “Aggressive litigation on all fronts is predicted – perhaps even more than under the CFPB’s first director, Richard Cordray. Do not be surprised to see the CFPB sue those clearly under its jurisdiction and also to expand its reach.”

What does this mean for mortgage lenders? More oversight, more aggressive audits, more consent orders, fines and penalties.

At Secure Insight we have helped our lender clients manage CFPB third party vendor management expectations for more than ten years. In every instance where a client has been audited, whether by the CFPB, FNMA, HUD, or a state banking regulator, the SI vendor management solution has passed with flying colors.

Clearly it is time to take compliance more seriously once again. The cost of looking the other way or ignoring full compliance strategies will be too financially burdensome. At a few dollars a transaction the cost of using Secure Insight as your compliance partner makes sense now more than ever.

Call us today and schedule a demo of our tools so you can rest easy when a state or federal regulator sends you an audit request.