Inclusiv Joins in Support of Current CFPB Leadership Structure (January 2020)

Inclusiv Joins Members in Support of Current CFPB Leadership Structure

January 31, 2020 Dear Member, Last week, Inclusiv joined our members HOPE CU and Self-Help FCU, along with the National Association of Latino Community Asset Builders, in signing an amici curiae brief filed by the Center for Responsible Lending in support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) before the Supreme Court. Our support for the bureau falls into four broad arguments:

• CFPB’s regulatory independence allows small financial institutions to thrive by providing a level regulatory playing field
• A CFPB director subject to at-will removal will undermine the Bureau's accountability to the public, and harm small financial institutions
• The CFPB’s leadership structure is consistent with the historical design of financial regulation
• Should the Court find removal restrictions to be unconstitutional, the proper course is to sever that section of the act, not the act in full

The more than 10 million Americans served by community development credit unions are vulnerable to predatory lenders, and in many cases the direct competitors of you, our members, are high cost lenders. The regulatory clarity provided by a central government bureau has been crucial in protecting these consumers from predatory practices. The CFPB also provides valuable front-line counseling and coaching tools for financial institutions with limited resources, and the consumer complaint line managed by the CFPB is another valuable tool for consumers to directly report issues related to predatory practices. Any suspension of these tools would do real harm to the most vulnerable in our society. 

Inclusiv's mission is to help low- and moderate-income people and communities achieve financial independence through credit unions, and the weight of unrestrained predatory lending activities typically falls hardest on the communities that you serve. While we may not always agree with individual rules proposed by the CFPB, we firmly believe that a strong Bureau remains critical to strong, healthy communities. We will continue to advocate forcefully on behalf of our member credit unions with all government agencies, including the CFPB, to ensure that proposed rule changes do not place an undue burden on community development credit unions. Please click here to download a full copy of the amici curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court. 

Sincerely, Cathie Mahon, President & CEO