Whether you agreed with his decisions or not, it’s the end of an era at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Rohit Chopra was only the third individual to be the Director of the CFPB, following Richard Cordray and Kathy Kraninger. Chopra, who lasted four years in the role, was let go over the weekend and has been replaced on a temporary basis by Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary. AccountsRecovery reached out to professionals from across the credit and collection industry and asked them to share their thoughts on Chopra’s legacy at the CFPB. Here is what they had to say.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Click here to sign up for a webinar on Thursday, February 6 at 2:30pm ET to discuss the changes at the CFPB and what they mean for the credit and collection industry.
Leslie Bender, Eversheds Sutherland
Rohit Chopra’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) legacy includes having advanced policies related to open banking, transparency in consumer financial transactions and the expansion of the Fair Credit Reporting Act to digital and modern ways in which consumers’ data is collected, processed, monetized and exchanged. His most controversial initiatives resulted from his fierce alignment with consumer advocates’ priorities on issues such as the prohibition of credit reporting of medical debt and the prohibition of credit reporting of individuals suspected of being victims of human trafficking. Despite numerous legal challenges to Director Chopra’s rulemaking, some of which were successful, the Director remained dedicated to his priorities throughout his tenure. Rohit Chopra is the only CFPB director to have completed the process of proposing rules under Section 1033.
Manny Newburger, Barron & Newburger
I think that Director Chopra’s legacy is an unfortunate one, as it appears that he often pursued an agenda that was not beneficial to consumers. His rulemaking efforts were anti-competitive, with the very real potential to harm the ability of smaller banks to compete. His attacks on the reporting of medical debt seemed designed to harm the ability of smaller medical practices to stay afloat, to limit the availability of medical care, and to undermine the safety and soundness of financial institutions by depriving them of information about the true financial circumstances of potential borrowers.
One could fairly state that Mr. Chopra showed far more concern for consumers who don’t pay their bills than for those who do, and he showed too little interest in or respect for facts or data that did not suit his agenda. He was the poster child for why an agency like the CFPB should be run by a bipartisan commission so that differing voices are heard.
Rick Perr, Kaufman & Dolowich
Rohit Chopra’s tenure will stand as a warning sign for the abuses that the unchecked CFPB structure can produce. It is fraught with peril and forces its targets to rely on the courts to keep it from exceeding its authority. For example, the CFPB recently filed suit against a creditor for practices where medical credit tradelines were not considered when extending credit. The CFPB claimed that this omission failed to provide the whole picture of individuals’ creditworthiness. Yet, the next day after filing, the CFPB introduced proposed rules to exclude medical debt from consumer reports due to its belief that these tradelines are not reflective of someone’s ability to repay a creditor. The utter hypocrisy of these positions is justified simply on the target of the Bureau’s conduct. Chopra’s unbridled interest in punishing the credit and collection industry will not be missed.
Whether you agreed with his decisions or not, it’s the end of an era at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Rohit Chopra was only the third individual to be the Director of the CFPB, following Richard Cordray and Kathy Kraninger. Chopra, who lasted four years in the role, was let go over the weekend and has been replaced on a temporary basis by Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary. AccountsRecovery reached out to professionals from across the credit and collection industry and asked them to share their thoughts on Chopra’s legacy at the CFPB. Here is what they had to say.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Click here to sign up for a webinar on Thursday, February 6 at 2:30pm ET to discuss the changes at the CFPB and what they mean for the credit and collection industry.
Leslie Bender, Eversheds Sutherland
Rohit Chopra’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) legacy includes having advanced policies related to open banking, transparency in consumer financial transactions and the expansion of the Fair Credit Reporting Act to digital and modern ways in which consumers’ data is collected, processed, monetized and exchanged. His most controversial initiatives resulted from his fierce alignment with consumer advocates’ priorities on issues such as the prohibition of credit reporting of medical debt and the prohibition of credit reporting of individuals suspected of being victims of human trafficking. Despite numerous legal challenges to Director Chopra’s rulemaking, some of which were successful, the Director remained dedicated to his priorities throughout his tenure. Rohit Chopra is the only CFPB director to have completed the process of proposing rules under Section 1033.
Manny Newburger, Barron & Newburger
I think that Director Chopra’s legacy is an unfortunate one, as it appears that he often pursued an agenda that was not beneficial to consumers. His rulemaking efforts were anti-competitive, with the very real potential to harm the ability of smaller banks to compete. His attacks on the reporting of medical debt seemed designed to harm the ability of smaller medical practices to stay afloat, to limit the availability of medical care, and to undermine the safety and soundness of financial institutions by depriving them of information about the true financial circumstances of potential borrowers.
One could fairly state that Mr. Chopra showed far more concern for consumers who don’t pay their bills than for those who do, and he showed too little interest in or respect for facts or data that did not suit his agenda. He was the poster child for why an agency like the CFPB should be run by a bipartisan commission so that differing voices are heard.
Rick Perr, Kaufman & Dolowich
Rohit Chopra’s tenure will stand as a warning sign for the abuses that the unchecked CFPB structure can produce. It is fraught with peril and forces its targets to rely on the courts to keep it from exceeding its authority. For example, the CFPB recently filed suit against a creditor for practices where medical credit tradelines were not considered when extending credit. The CFPB claimed that this omission failed to provide the whole picture of individuals’ creditworthiness. Yet, the next day after filing, the CFPB introduced proposed rules to exclude medical debt from consumer reports due to its belief that these tradelines are not reflective of someone’s ability to repay a creditor. The utter hypocrisy of these positions is justified simply on the target of the Bureau’s conduct. Chopra’s unbridled interest in punishing the credit and collection industry will not be missed.
