Payday lending

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's fifth anniversary marks an important shift for the agency in which it pivots from rules required by the Dodd-Frank Act to pursuing other areas.

Reports from the big three credit bureaus do not include information about payday loans, but a CFPB proposal figures to shake up that arms-length relationship.

The number of customers who obtained 10 payday loans in 2015 outnumbered those who obtained just one, the California Department of Business Oversight said in a report Wednesday.

Installment lenders are concerned that efforts by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to curb the most abusive and predatory practices associated with payday loans will wreak havoc on their business.

Some critics of the bureau think there is a renewed chance to change the bureau's structure. They point to the presidential election and recent setbacks to CFPB Director Richard Cordray, including a watchdog's report on employee discrimination and a pending legal challenge to its constitutionality, as laying the groundwork for a change.

Banks, credit card companies and other financial firms are strategizing ways to stave off higher legal bills they expect from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposal to limit the use of arbitration clauses, which is likely to open the floodgates to class action lawsuits.

WASHINGTON — Community banks and credit unions would be forced to stop making short-term, small dollar loans if the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's payday lending proposal is adopted, two trade groups said Monday.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should have looked more closely at states like Colorado that protect consumers from true predatory lenders while still preserving access to credit.

Community bankers are trying to determine how they can offer affordable small-dollar loans that fit within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's complex 1,341-page payday lending plan.

Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is the target of a new TV ad campaign that alleges he is courting potential funders for a run as governor of Ohio by enacting a plan that would benefit trial lawyers. The campaign appears to be the work of Lincoln Strategy Group, a political strategy firm in Phoenix with ties to Republicans.