The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced the next area of its operation that it is reviewing will be administrative adjudications.
Mick Mulvaney, the CFPB’s acting director, announced earlier this month that the agency would conduct a comprehensive review of all of its operations, beginning with the Civil Investigative Demand letter process. That Request For Information opened for comment from the public this week.
The next RFI, on administrative adjudications, will begin next week, according to the CFPB. Since its inception, the CFPB has been involved in eight administrative adjudications. Six of them were settled during the proceedings, one proceeding is pending, and one has been decided. Administrative adjudications are used when a contested matter is not resolved by a consent order.
One example of a case that went to administrative adjudication, coincidentally enough, is the case against PHH Mortgage. That case, which is still ongoing, was in the news earlier today because the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued its ruling that the leadership structure of the CFPB is constitutional. PHH was sued by the CFPB because it allegedly engaged in a kickback scheme. The CFPB fined the company $109 million, which PHH contested.
Among the questions the CFPB is seeking answers to are:
- Whether the CFPB should file suit in federal court rather than through the administrative adjudication process
- Whether the “expeditious” process used by the CFPB is too aggressive
- Whether limiting the number of expert witnesses is appropriate, and
- Whether the CFPB should adopt the Federal rules of evidence