Washington, DC - In July 2010, Congress passed and President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The Act created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the nation’s first federal agency whose sole focus is protecting consumers in the financial marketplace.
Since the Bureau opened its doors, it has concentrated on making consumer financial markets work better for the American people, and helping people improve their financial lives.
CFPB’s vision is to work toward a finance marketplace where consumers can understand prices and risks upfront so they can easily make product comparisons, and where no one can build a business model around unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau works to:
Educate – An informed consumer is a key line of defense against harmful practices.
Enforce – The CFPB supervises certain banks, credit unions, and other financial companies and enforces federal consumer financial laws.
Study – The CFPB gathers and analyzes available information to better understand consumers, financial services providers, and consumer financial markets.
You Can Help
The CFPB’s relationship with housing counselors is mutually beneficial. The Bureau writes rules, including rules that apply to mortgages, supervises many consumer financial services companies, and enforces federal consumer financial protection laws, including those that restrict unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices.
The CFPB monitors financial markets to identify risks to consumers, handles consumer complaints, researches consumer behavior and creates and promotes financial education materials.
Housing counselors help the CFPB serve the public when they:
The CFPB looks forward to our continued relationship working with housing counselors to benefit consumers.
This article was originally published in The Bridge, Volume 3, Issue 1.