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A federal judge yesterday denied a request for a preliminary injunction to remove Mick Mulvaney as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Los Angeles Times reported. The judge sided with Mulvaney — President Trump’s budget director and choice for the interim position — over Leandra English, the agency’s deputy director who has said that she is the rightful acting director. “The court finds that English is not likely to succeed on the merits of her claims, nor is she likely to suffer irreparable harm absent the injunctive relief sought,” said Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in a 46-page decision. The ruling came after Judge Kelly denied a request by English last month for a temporary restraining order to remove Mulvaney and install her as acting director.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is concerned about Mick Mulvaney’s decision to freeze the collection of consumer data at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, HousingWire.com reported. According to a letter from Warren sent to Mulvaney last week, Mulvaney on Dec. 4 halted the collection of all personal information by the CFPB, citing information security concerns. Warren’s letter states that Mulvaney made the move in response to a report from the CFPB inspector general, but Warren states that Mulvaney’s response went too far and is impacting the bureau’s ability to regulate the companies it oversees. According to Warren, the CFPB “cannot fulfill its core functions” without collecting personal information from consumers. According to Warren, CFPB bank examiners “regularly” use account-level data to detect improper and unlawful activity.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said yesterday that the agency will review and reconsider aspects of two rules issued by its former directer, Richard Cordray, The Hill reported. Under acting Director Mick Mulvaney, the CFPB announced plans to revise rules issued by Cordray regarding mortgage data collection and prepaid credit cards. One of the revisions: The bureau will no longer assess penalties against mortgage lenders and banks for errors collected in data next year that is subject to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The bureau also won't ask for lenders to resubmit such data if errors aren't "material" to the information provided. The CFPB also said it would begin the process of making a rule to revise parts of the CFPB’s 2015 rule regarding the HMDA. The bureau singled out institutional and transactional coverage tests, discretionary data points and lending-activity criteria that determine whether institutions are required to report mortgage data.

The deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asked a federal court Wednesday night to halt a previous ruling that cleared President Trump to appoint a temporary chief in her place, The Hill reported. The move by CFPB Deputy Director Leandra English is the latest maneuver in the fight for control of the agency. English filed an injunction in the District Court for the District of Columbia to block Office of Budget and Management Director Mick Mulvaney from leading the agency. English’s complaint asks the court to impose her restraining order against Mulvaney after it dismissed her effort two weeks ago. English had sued Mulvaney, who Trump appointed to lead the CFPB until the Senate confirms a permanent replacement, and the president, claiming the Dodd-Frank Act made her the rightful acting director. The deputy director argues in the new filing that Mulvaney is ineligible to run the CFPB because of the line of succession established in Dodd-Frank. English also claims Mulvaney’s appointment violates the Federal Reserve’s independence since the CFPB was created within the Fed system and Mulvaney is a senior White House aide.

The new acting head of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is reviewing whether Wells Fargo & Co. should pay tens of millions of dollars over alleged mortgage lending abuse, Reuters. The San Francisco-based bank said in October that it would refund homebuyers who were wrongly charged fees to secure low mortgage rates — a black mark against a lender which has already been roiled by scandal over its treatment of customers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) had been investigating the mortgage issue since early this year, said one current and two former officials. The agency accepted an internal review from Wells Fargo and set settlement terms in early November, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak about internal discussions. But that matter and roughly a dozen others are in question now that Mick Mulvaney, the agency chief tapped by President Donald Trump, has said he is reviewing the CFPB’s prior work.

A federal jury in Manhattan on Wednesday found a Kansas City, Mo., businessman guilty of fraud for running a $220 million payday lending scheme that charged illegally high interest rates and made loans to consumers who did not authorize them, Reuters reported. The U.S. Department of Justice said Richard Moseley was convicted on six counts including wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, after a 2½-week trial. Moseley, who had pleaded not guilty, faces up to 20 years in prison on the most serious charges at his scheduled April 27, 2018 sentencing. Prosecutors said that from 2004 to September 2014, Moseley's businesses made "predatory" loans to more than 620,000 Americans, often downplaying the financing costs and charging effective annual interest rates that could top 700 percent. The defendant spent some of the millions of dollars he made from the scheme on a Mexico vacation home, luxury cars and country club dues, prosecutors said.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) yesterday filed suit against Think Finance for its role in deceiving consumers into repaying loans that were not legally owed, according to a CFPB press release. In a suit filed in federal court, the CFPB alleges that Think Finance illegally collects on loans that are void under state laws governing interest rate caps or the licensing of lenders. The Bureau alleges that Think Finance made deceptive demands and illegally took money from consumers’ bank accounts for debts that were not legally owed. The CFPB seeks to recoup relief for harmed consumers and impose a penalty. Think Finance, based in Addison, Texas, is an online provider of software technology, analytics, loan servicing, and marketing services. Think Finance, working with other companies, offered and serviced lines of credit and installment loans over the internet to consumers throughout the U.S. In its complaint, the Bureau alleges that Think Finance violated the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act by deceiving consumers and collecting on loans that were either partially or completely void under the laws of 17 states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and South Dakota.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau claims that Freedom Debt Relief, the nation’s largest debt settlement services provider, built its business on lying to its customers about the company’s ability to negotiate debt settlements, HousingWire.com reported. The CFPB announced yesterday that it is suing Freedom Debt Relief and its co-CEO, Andrew Housser, for violating the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule by repeatedly deceiving customers. According to the CFPB, Freedom collects fees from customers without settling their debts as promised, makes customers negotiate their own settlements, misleads them about the company’s fees and the scope of its services, and fails to inform them of their rights to money they deposited with the company. “Freedom took advantage of vulnerable consumers who turned to the company for help getting out of debt,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said. “Freedom deceived consumers about its clout with creditors that it knows do not negotiate with debt-settlement companies, made some customers negotiate on their own, and misled consumers about its fees and their accounts.”