Once again, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has opted not to include anyone from the accounts receivable management industry on its Consumer Advisory Board, despite multiple individuals from the industry who applied for a spot.
The CFPB announced the members of four committees — the Consumer Advisory Board, the Community Bank Advisory Council, the Credit Union Advisory Council, and the Academic Research Council. The CAB has not had a member from the ARM industry on it since Ohad Samet from TrueAccord was briefly on the committee back in 2018. Samet was on the board when former Acting Director Mick Mulvaney fired all 25 members of the CAB and disbanded it in June 2018. The CAB was brought back later in the year, and has been filled with individuals mostly from consumer advocacy groups ever since.
The new members of the CAB are:
- Leigh Phillips (Chair), President and CEO, SaverLife
- Joaquin Altoro, Chief Executive Officer, Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority
- Lorray Brown, Attorney/Consumer Law Attorney/Co-Director, Michigan Poverty Law Program
- Louis Caditz-Peck, Director, Public Policy, LendingClub
- Stephanie Carroll, Directing Attorney, Consumer Rights & Economic Justice, Public Counsel
- David Ehrich, Executive Director, AIR – Alliance for Innovative Regulation
- Laurie Goodman, Director, Housing Finance Policy Center, Urban Institute
- Margaret Libby, Founder and CEO, MyPath
- Andres Navarrete, Executive Vice President, External Affairs, Capital One
- Beverly Ruggia, Financial Justice Program Director, New Jersey Citizen Action
- Faith Schwartz, President, Housing Finance Strategies
- Ky Tran-Trong, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Visa
- Pete Upton, Executive Director, Native360 Loan Fund
- Mae Watson Grote, Founder and CEO, Change Machine
Not only is the CAB devoid of anyone from the ARM industry, it is also very light on representation from the financial services industry as a whole. Only a handful of the 14 spots went to individuals from the banking industry, including a lobbyist from Capital One and an attorney from Visa.
Members of the CAB — and all of the other committees — serve two-year terms. The goal of the CAB is to “advise and consult with the Bureau’s Director on a variety of consumer financial issues,” according to the CFPB.
At a time when reforming the debt collection process is front-and-center at the CFPB, one would think that it would have accepted an application from someone within the ARM industry. AccountsRecovery.net is aware of at least three different individuals who applied for a spot. They were not told why they were not selected.
