Do you think you have what it takes to articulate the objectives and mission of the accounts receivable management industry to a room full of consumer advocates and federal regulators who many in the industry think have it out for debt collectors? Do you think you have what it takes to convince that regulator that you belong in the room? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is accepting applications for its Consumer Advisory Board, Community Bank Advisory Council, Credit Union Advisory Council, and Academic Research Council.
For professionals in the ARM industry, getting representation on the Consumer Advisory Board has been difficult in the past few years.
Interested participants can start submitting the applications on Monday, July 3. It does seem kind of fitting in a show of patriotism to volunteer for something as important as this as the nation celebrates its birthday. Here is a list of the type of individuals that the CFPB said it is looking for:
- Experts in consumer protection, community development, consumer finance, fair lending, and civil rights
- Experts in consumer financial products or services, including consumer reporting, student lending, small dollar lending, credit cards, debt collection, and debt relief
- Experts in consumer finance education
- Representatives of banks and credit unions that serve underserved communities
- Representatives of communities that have been significantly impacted by higher priced mortgage loans
- Current employees of credit unions and community banks
- Academics with a strong research and publishing or practitioner background, and a record of involvement in research and public policy, including public or academic service
Applicants will have to submit a cover letter detailing their interests and qualifications, a copy of their resume, recommendation letters from third parties (reach out to me if you need someone to write one), and to complete a questionnaire.
The Consumer Advisory Board 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.
You might think applying for the Consumer Advisory Board is a bad idea because it’s too much work or because it won’t be worth it, but I will leave it to my favorite TV show of all time (along with one of my favorite bands of all time) to counter those arguments:
