Today, Mark Udall pressed for stronger protections for American consumers by advocating the confirmation of Richard Cordray as the first-ever director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  In a letter to Senate leadership, Udall noted that the CFPB needs a confirmed director to more fully carry out important watchdog functions, such as regulating credit scores.  Last week, the Senate Banking Committee sent Cordray's nomination to the full Senate for consideration.

The CFPB was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act last year to protect consumers against deceptive, misleading and unfair business practices, but an empty director seat has limited its ability to effectively protect consumers.  In particular, Udall is concerned that the bureau has not been able to fully assume its authority to investigate credit-reporting agencies that put out deceptive ads and continue to sell expensive and sometimes misleading credit scores to consumers.

"Without a confirmed director, the CFPB has diminished power to investigate the actions of the major credit reporting agencies.  Not only do these websites lure Americans into expensive subscriptions and other credit score-related services unknowingly, they often deceivingly sell individuals credit scores that are entirely different from the scores actually provided to the consumers' banks and other creditors.  In these tough economic times, we need to do all we can to block such dishonest advertisements and help empower consumers to avoid these financial traps - and the CFPB is our lead agency to accomplish these important goals," Udall wrote.  "In order to carry out this mission, the Senate must confirm a director to head the Bureau."

Udall has been a vocal advocate for empowering consumers to take back control of their personal finances.  He fought to pass his bipartisan amendment to give Americans free access to their credit scores so they can make informed financial decisions.  Since the law went into effect in July, lenders who use credit scores to deny credit or set unfavorable terms must disclose the relevant scores to the consumers, along with contextual information about how their scores were reached.  As the primary measure of consumers' creditworthiness, Udall hopes to arm consumers with such tools to improve their financial health, and that includes a strong watchdog bureau that roots out and stops unfair, anti-consumer practices.  In the early days of establishing CFPB, Udall wrote to the President's special adviser Elizabeth Warren asking her to make access to free credit scores a priority.

Full text of the letter follows:

Dear Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell:

As you know, last week the Senate Banking Committee approved the nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  I strongly support Mr. Cordray and ask for the swift consideration of his nomination by the full Senate because of the important work awaiting the CFPB.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act established the CFPB to protect American consumers from predatory and unfair financial practices, while putting in place significant oversight mechanisms, including the ability for the newly formed Financial Services Oversight Council to veto any CFPB regulation that raises safety and soundness concerns. 
 
Yet in order to gain its full authority to protect consumers, the CFPB must have a confirmed director. For example, credit reporting agencies continue to deceptively advertise and sell their products to consumers on misleading websites such as www.freescore.com and www.freecreditscore.com. Without a confirmed director, the CFPB has diminished power to investigate the actions of the major credit reporting agencies.  Not only do these websites lure Americans into expensive subscriptions and other credit score-related services unknowingly, they often deceivingly sell individuals credit scores that are entirely different from the scores actually provided to the consumers’ banks and other creditors.  In these tough economic times, we need to do all we can to block such dishonest advertisements and help empower consumers to avoid these financial traps – and the CFPB is our lead agency to accomplish these important goals.

As you may know, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act contains a bipartisan provision I authored that now requires lenders and other creditors to provide consumers – at no cost – with the very same credit score used in making a determination to either deny credit or offer credit on less than favorable terms.  I authored this provision because credit scores are the most important and influential measure of a consumer’s creditworthiness.  As millions of Americans continue to repair their credit status in the wake of the nation’s worst financial collapse since the Great Depression, it is my belief that the CFPB must fully implement its Congressionally appointed oversight of consumer credit scores and related products.  In order to carry out this mission, the Senate must confirm a director to head the Bureau.

It is my hope that the Senate will take action quickly to confirm Mr. Cordray’s nomination and put in place an effective consumer financial watchdog to ensure Americans are given the tools they need to take control of their financial health.

Sincerely,
Mark Udall