Corday Nominated For Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

On January 22nd, President Obama announced he’ll again nominate Richard Cordray for Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and ask the Senate to confirm his appointment. Cordray is currently Director of the Bureau, but his appointment a year ago (while Congress was in recess) created legal blocks and political blowback from the CFPB’s critics. At a press conference on the 23rd, the President told reports he wants Corday in the job for many years. “He can’t stay on the job unless the Senate finally gives him the confirmation he deserves,” the President said.Not surprisingly, Senate Republicans have tediously blocked a vote on Corday’s confirmation (he was first nominated in July 2011); they want to change the CFPB’s structure into a five member committee with Congressional oversight. Obama cashed in his recess appointment authority to give Corday the position soon into the new year, 2012, during the Senate’s recess. Republicans are insisting they weren’t in recess; they schemed up a plan that called together all pro forma sessions of Congress every third day—specifically to stop Cordray’s appointment. Currently, there’s one lawsuit contending Cordray’s appointment and his authority to run the CFPB, more are predicted.Senate Republicans have promised to fight Corday’s nomination. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, had this to say, “Until key structural changes are made to the bureau to ensure accountability and transparency, I will continue my opposition to any nominee for director, as outlined in a letter signed by 45 Republican Senators to the president. If the president is looking for a different outcome, the administration should use this as an opportunity to work with us on the critical reforms we have identified to him.” As Democrats now have a solid majority in the Senate, Republicans are expected to use a dreaded filibuster to block the vote.It’s important to remember who funds the CFPB: it’s the Federal Reserve, which means 1. the CFPB is not dependent on Congress for appropriations, and 2. it’s run by the Fed. The Fed is not a civic institution, nor has it really put the people’s wealth in the hands of the people; having the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau backed financial by this giant corporation is unfortunate. Also important to note: the CFPB is just starting to really supervise and examine the big players in the debt collection industry (those with profits over $10 million annually). The Bureau is opening up resources for individuals who have been abused by debt collectors to complain and organize.If a collection agency has harassed you, you may be entitled to money damages up to $1,000.00, based on the FDCPA, which has been around for almost 35 years. The FDCPA is a federal law that applies to every state. In other words, everyone is protected by the FDCPA. The FDCPA is essentially a laundry list of what debt collectors can and cannot do while collecting a debt, as well as things debt collectors must do while collecting a debt. Plus, the FDCPA has a fee-shift provision. This means, the collection agency pays your attorney’s fees and costs. Founding attorney, Michael Agruss, has settled over 1,500 debt collection harassment cases. We want to help you, too.