PayThink

The Dodd-Frank QM rule will restrict the availability of credit, but it can be less invasive if the CFPB develops a model that weighs all relevant risk factors, not just a few measures of capacity to repay.

A report by Federal Financial Analytics concludes that the FDIC has made admirable progress implementing the part of the Dodd-Frank Act that gives it the authority to unwind large financial companies in trouble, but there are are still a number of outstanding issues that need to be resolved.

The Uniform Law Commission's commercial code excludes debit cards, which is problematic since courts tend to reject class-action challenges that conflict with it.

Critics of nonbanks contend that consumers use "high-cost" alternatives because they are financially illiterate. But, like most simplistic conclusions, this one is seldom accompanied by facts and is as wrong as it is demeaning of the innate intelligence of these consumers.

Well-intentioned policies are causing inadvertent redlining. Our proposed Dignity Mortgage would show there are few if any additional risks of lending to the large cohort of presently excluded prospective homebuyers.

The CFPB announced that it will soon be supervising large consumer debt collections firms.

If the program ends, most TAG deposits held by community banks will quickly migrate to the biggest banks as investors still expect the federal government to protect all deposits held by these financial behemoths.

An analysis of Senate rulings indicates voters who believe in strengthening customer protections should cast their ballots for Democrats, while voters who believe banks should not have to answer to a consumer regulator should choose Republicans.

In a typical case, a short sale took nearly nine months, and extraordinary patience and tenacity, to get done. That's no way to stage a housing recovery. Streamline the process.

"A critical mass of angst and dissatisfaction with the Dodd-Frank Act and Basel III is opening the door to change," writes Barbara Rehm. If you want to read the brightest mind on the topic, check out Karen Shaw Petrou's assessments, she says.