BCFP Issues Streamlined Supervisory Highlights Report

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection yesterday released its 17th Supervisory Highlights report, albeit the first under acting director Mick Mulvaney. The report covers supervisory and enforcement activities at the bureau between December 2017 and May 2018.

The report has been on a diet and health kick in the past year, slimming down to 22 pages for the most recent version, from 47 pages in the preceding report, which was published last summer under former director Richard Cordray. The slimmed down version of the report could be a result of fewer enforcement actions undertaken by the BCFP under Mulvaney — the agency did not announce its first enforcement action under Mulvaney until April, nearly five months after Mulvaney was named acting director.

As well, the collections industry appears to be doing a better job of not ruling afoul of the BCFP, judging by the section of the report dealing with debt collection. The most recent report highlights one violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act that was uncovered during an examination. That violation dealt with a failure to obtain and mail debt verification before engaging in further collection activities.

Last summer’s report, in contrast, spotlighted four violations of the FDCPA, and included an admonishment that collectors should not follow client instructions when those instructions would constitute a violation of the FDCPA.

The report issued yesterday excluded a number of pieces of information that had been included in previous reports, including:

• Supervisory observations on Remittances, Service provider program, Short-term, small-dollar lending, and Fair lending
• Nonpublic supervisory actions
• Use of enforcement and supervisory authority
• Examination procedures