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CFPB Director Discusses Mortgage Rule Implementation And Enforcement Against Individuals
On October 23, CFPB Director Richard Cordray briefly spoke with the Reuters Washington Summit about the Bureau’s rulemaking and enforcement work.
Upcoming Effective Dates for Mortgage Rules
According to the report, Cordray stated that he was confident most mortgage lenders would be able to comply with the new mortgage rules by the January 2014 effective dates. "Everybody's had plenty of time to see this coming," Cordray said. However, he added that the Bureau would take into consideration that some smaller firms would need more time to fully comply. "What we're looking for come January 10 is that they've made good-faith efforts to come into substantial compliance with the rules," he said.
Enforcement Actions Against Individuals
Corday also stated that the Bureau would continue to take enforcement action against individual officers and employees, as well as banks and other entities. "I've always felt strongly that you can't only go after companies. Companies run through individuals, and individuals need to know that they're at risk when they do bad things under the umbrella of a company," Cordray said.
The CFPB already has pursued individuals in several civil litigation matters. For example, the CFPB has named individuals in actions to enforce Section 8 of RESPA, including a lawsuit announced just this week against principals of a law firm. In July, the CFPB announced an enforcement action against a Utah-based mortgage company and two of its officers for giving bonuses to loan officers who allegedly steered consumers into mortgages with higher interest rates.