Lenders are worried the days of a business-friendly Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are numbered, the Wall Street Journal reported. Mortgage lenders and financial-technology firms negotiating with the agency over potential settlements are pushing to resolve their cases quickly. Their thinking is that penalties and enforcement will be much harsher if Joe Biden becomes president in January. A Biden administration is expected to embrace a more aggressive role for the CFPB, which in many ways has grown less forceful during President Trump’s time in office. For the financial sector, a reinvigorated CFPB could be one of the most immediate impacts of a Biden presidency. Under a new CFPB director, “you will see some pretty big changes pretty quickly, both on the enforcement and rule-making side,” said Dennis Kelleher, chief executive at Better Markets, an advocacy group that lobbies for tighter financial regulations. “It’s one of the very few places where you could easily see a 180-degree turn.” The Biden team expects the agency would issue more fines, try to recover more money for consumers and give priority to protecting people hurt by the coronavirus recession. For example, Biden’s team wants to make sure lenders who have let borrowers temporarily skip mortgage payments don’t rush to foreclose on them next year.
