A top congressional critic of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said this week that any decision by Director Richard Cordray to run for governor of Ohio could further endanger the agency’s pending rule on limits for payday lenders if his political ambitions are influencing the rule-making process, MorningConsult.com reported yesterday. In a letter to Cordray on Monday, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) wrote that speeding up the finalization of the payday lending rule in coordination with Cordray’s possible entry into the Ohio governor’s race would open up the regulation to legal challenges. The proposed rule, which Hensarling opposes, would among other things require payday lenders to vet in advance if borrowers can pay back their loans.
