IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1500 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23 (legislative day, MAY 22), 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

To require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to 

meet its statutory purpose, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Consumers First Act’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings; sense of Congress. 

Sec. 3. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

Sec. 4. Conforming amendments. 

Sec. 5. Executive and administration powers. 

Sec. 6. Offices of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

Sec. 7. Consumer Advisory Board reforms. 

Sec. 8. Discretionary surplus funds. 

Sec. 9. Modification of the exemption from certain disclosure requirements. 

Sec. 10. Limitation on providing exemptions from HMDA reporting requirements. 

Sec. 11. Limitation on modifying HMDA data fields. 

Sec. 12. Maintaining the HMDA Explorer tool and the Public Data Platform 

API. 

Sec. 13. Report on fair lending investigations and enforcement actions. 

Sec. 14. Debt collection. 

Sec. 15. Credit scores included in free annual disclosures. 

Sec. 16. Report on senior consumers. 

Sec. 17. Report on payday loan and car-title loan investigations and enforcement actions. 

Sec. 18. Effective date. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 

9 Consumer Protection Act (Public Law 111–203) 

10 (‘‘Dodd-Frank’’), was signed into law on July 21, 

11 2010, in order to, among other things, advance the 

12 goals of protecting consumers from predatory finan13 cial services practices and products that led to the 

14 2007–2009 financial crisis. 

15 (2) Title X of Dodd-Frank established a new 

16 Federal independent watchdog, known as the ConVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 May 24, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1500.RFS H1500

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1 sumer Financial Protection Bureau (‘‘Consumer Bu2 reau’’), with broad authority to ensure that all hard3 working consumers are given clear, accurate infor4 mation that they need to shop for mortgages, credit 

5 cards, and other consumer financial products or 

6 services and to protect consumers from hidden fees, 

7 abusive terms, and other unfair, deceptive, or abu8 sive acts or practices through strong implementation 

9 and enforcement of Federal consumer financial laws. 

10 (3) Before the Consumer Bureau was estab11 lished, Federal financial regulators were tasked with 

12 the dual responsibilities of supervising institutions 

13 for safety and soundness and compliance with con14 sumer protections under Federal consumer financial 

15 laws. These agencies often prioritized the profit16 ability of their regulated entities over the protection 

17 of consumers, even when institutions were found to 

18 have engaged in practices detrimental to their own 

19 customers’ financial well-being. 

20 (4) Congress purposefully created the inde21 pendent Consumer Bureau within the Federal Re22 serve System to address past regulatory gaps in our 

23 country’s financial regulatory regime—gaps that re24 sulted in the most severe global financial crisis since 

25 the Great Depression. Among other things, Federal 


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1 financial regulators were too reluctant to exercise 

2 their rulemaking, supervisory, and enforcement au3 thorities to protect consumers from the misdeeds of 

4 the Consumer Bureau’s regulated entities. In cre5 ating the Consumer Bureau, Congress explicitly laid 

6 out in statute the Consumer Bureau’s purpose, five 

7 objectives, and six primary functions. Specifically: 

8 (A) Section 1021(a) of Dodd-Frank states 

9 that the Consumer Bureau, ‘‘shall seek to im10 plement and, where applicable, enforce Federal 

11 consumer financial law consistently for the pur12 pose of ensuring that all consumers have access 

13 to markets for consumer financial products and 

14 services and that markets for consumer finan15 cial products and services are fair, transparent, 

16 and competitive’’. 

17 (B) Section 1021(b) of Dodd-Frank au18 thorizes the Consumer Bureau, ‘‘to exercise its 

19 authorities under Federal consumer financial 

20 law for the purposes of ensuring that, with re21 spect to consumer financial products and serv22 ices—(1) consumers are provided with timely 

23 and understandable information to make re24 sponsible decisions about financial transactions; 

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1 tive, or abusive acts and practices and from dis2 crimination; (3) outdated, unnecessary, or un3 duly burdensome regulations are regularly iden4 tified and addressed in order to reduce unwar5 ranted regulatory burdens; (4) Federal con6 sumer financial law is enforced consistently, 

7 without regard to the status of a person as a 

8 depository institution, in order to promote fair 

9 competition; and (5) markets for consumer fi10 nancial products and services operate trans11 parently and efficiently to facilitate access and 

12 innovation.’’. 

13 (C) Section 1021(c) of Dodd-Frank estab14 lishes the primary functions of the Consumer 

15 Bureau to be, ‘‘(1) conducting financial edu16 cation programs; (2) collecting, investigating, 

17 and responding to consumer complaints; (3) col18 lecting, researching, monitoring, and publishing 

19 information relevant to the functioning of mar20 kets for consumer financial products and serv21 ices to identify risks to consumers and the 

22 proper functioning of such markets; (4) subject 

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1 forcement action to address violations of Fed2 eral consumer financial law; (5) issuing rules, 

3 orders, and guidance implementing Federal con4 sumer financial law; and (6) performing such 

5 support activities as may be necessary or useful 

6 to facilitate the other functions of the Bu7 reau.’’. 

8 (5) In doing so, Congress explicitly laid out 

9 these consumer-focused purpose, objectives, and pri10 mary functions for the Consumer Bureau to ensure 

11 that all consumers and all communities are pro12 tected. This is of extreme importance to commu13 nities of color who have been disproportionately im14 pacted by the inequities of the financial system, re15 sulting in an extreme racial wealth divide. Decades 

16 of segregation and discrimination have prevented 

17 consumers of colors from amassing wealth equal to 

18 their white counterparts, while predatory financial 

19 practices of have stripped consumers of color of their 

20 nominal existing wealth. For example, over the past 

21 30 years, the average wealth of White families has 

22 grown by 84 percent—1.2 times the rate of growth 

23 for the Latino population and 3 times the rate of 

24 growth for the Black population. In light of histor25 ical practices and current-day disparities in banking 


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1 and lending practices, the Consumer Bureau plays a 

2 key role in protecting communities of color from 

3 wealth-stripping financial products and ensuring 

4 their right to wealth building opportunities. The 

5 agency’s enforcement actions in auto lending, mort6 gages, and credit cards, and its rulemaking efforts 

7 have sought to address the predatory financial prod8 ucts such as payday loans and prepaid cards that 

9 are prolific in communities of color. The Consumer 

10 Bureau is essential in protecting vulnerable commu11 nities from discriminatory financial practices that 

12 has both perpetuated and exacerbated the racial 

13 wealth gap. 

14 (6) Under Dodd-Frank, the Deputy Director of 

15 the Consumer Bureau shall serve as the Acting Di16 rector in the absence or unavailability of the Direc17 tor, until the President appoints and the Senate con18 firms a new Director. Despite the plain letter of the 

19 law establishing a succession order to fill a vacancy 

20 in the Director’s position and the clear legislative 

21 history underscoring the importance of having an 

22 independent Federal consumer-focused agency, when 

23 the Consumer Bureau Director Richard Cordray re24 signed in November 2017, President Trump refused 

25 to recognize the Deputy Director as the rightful 


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1 head of the agency and instead installed Mr. Mick 

2 Mulvaney, the Director of the White House Office of 

3 Management and Budget, to serve as the Consumer 

4 Bureau’s Acting Director. This appointment of a 

5 White House cabinet official to run the Consumer 

6 Bureau raises profound conflict of interest questions 

7 and undermines the vital independent nature of the 

8 agency. 

9 (7) Additionally, the position of Acting Director 

10 is, by its nature, intended to be a temporary assign11 ment to maintain the status quo at an agency and 

12 to ensure the agency is fulfilling its statutory pur13 pose and mandates, until the President appoints, 

14 and the Senate confirms a permanent Director. Nev15 ertheless, during his tenure, Mr. Mulvaney instituted 

16 drastic and severe changes to the Consumer Bu17 reau’s daily operations and priorities contrary to the 

18 agency’s statutory purpose and mandates. 

19 (8) The daily operations of a Federal agency 

20 are guided by its official mission contained in its 

21 long-term strategic plan. The Consumer Bureau’s 

22 mission should embrace both the spirit and plain let23 ter of the law by fully recognizing the agency’s stat24 utory purpose, objectives, and functions. It is trou25 bling that the Consumer Bureau, under Mr. 


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1 Mulvaney, issued a Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year 

2 (‘‘FY’’) 2018–FY 2022 that appears to deemphasize 

3 the Consumer Bureau’s core mandate under section 

4 1021(a) of Dodd-Frank to, ‘‘enforce Federal con5 sumer financial law consistently for the purpose of 

6 ensuring that all consumers have access to markets 

7 for consumer financial products and services’’, by 

8 not referencing the importance of enforcement in its 

9 mission. Instead, it emphasizes financial education 

10 by stating that the agency’s new mission is, ‘‘[t]o 

11 regulate the offering and provision of consumer fi12 nancial products or services under the Federal con13 sumer financial laws and to educate and empower 

14 consumers to make better informed financial deci15 sions’’. This is in stark contrast from the Consumer 

16 Bureau’s Strategic Plan for FY 2013–FY 2017, 

17 which stated that the agency’s mission is helping, 

18 ‘‘consumer finance markets work by making rules 

19 more effective, by consistently and fairly enforcing 

20 those rules, and by empowering consumers to take 

21 more control over their economic lives’’. 

22 (9) Mr. Mulvaney has been praised by the 

23 White House for his efforts to undermine the Con24 sumer Bureau, with one anonymous advisor ac25 knowledging in a July 24, 2018, Politico article that, 


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1 ‘‘His mission was to blow that up, which he has. He 

2 is very well-suited to the chaos.’’. Mr. Mulvaney’s 

3 misguided actions have included, among other 

4 things— 

5 (A) stopping payments from the Civil Pen6 alty Fund to harmed consumers; 

7 (B) trying to reduce the Consumer Bu8 reau’s funding and staffing by initially request9 ing $0 be transferred from the Federal Reserve 

10 Board of Governors to carry out the agency’s 

11 work, imposing a freeze on hiring professional 

12 career staff, and by arbitrarily directing staff to 

cut the agency’s budget by 1 13 ⁄5; 

14 (C) politicizing the work of the Consumer 

15 Bureau by making unusual efforts to fill the 

16 independent agency with political appointees; 

17 (D) reducing the Consumer Bureau’s en18 forcement work, including taking only six en19 forcement actions in the first three quarters of 

20 2018 (compared with 54 enforcement actions 

21 taken by the agency in 2015, 42 enforcement 

22 actions in 2016 and 36 enforcement actions in 

23 2017), and dropping existing lawsuits and in24 vestigations into predatory payday lenders; 


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1 (E) taking steps that would undermine ef2 forts to promote fair lending and combat dis3 criminatory practices, including by hiring, and 

4 later refusing to remove, a political appointee 

5 with a history of racist written commentary to 

6 oversee the Office of Supervision, Enforcement, 

7 and Fair Lending, stripping away the enforce8 ment powers of the Office of Fair Lending and 

9 Equal Opportunity, seeking to curb the Con10 sumer Bureau’s data collection under the Home 

11 Mortgage Disclosure Act, and indicating the 

12 Consumer Bureau would reconsider its ap13 proach toward enforcing the Equal Credit Op14 portunity Act; 

15 (F) changing the role of the Office of Stu16 dents and Young Consumers and, according to 

17 an August 27, 2018, resignation letter from 

18 Seth Frotman, the Consumer Bureau’s former 

19 Assistant Director and Student Loan Ombuds20 man, ‘‘when new evidence came to light showing 

21 that the nation’s largest banks were ripping off 

22 students on campuses across the country by 

23 saddling them with legally dubious account fees, 

24 Bureau leadership suppressed the publication of 

25 a report prepared by Bureau staff’’; 


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1 (G) abandoning the accepted and efficient 

2 practice of having its examiners review, as part 

3 of their routine examinations, creditors’ compli4 ance with the Military Lending Act in order to 

5 ensure the detection and assessment of risky 

6 activities that could jeopardize vital protections 

7 provided to active-duty servicemembers and 

8 their families; 

9 (H) creating an Office of Cost Benefit 

10 Analysis that prioritizes businesses’ expenses 

11 over harm caused to consumers, and unduly 

12 constrains oversight of the Consumer Bureau’s 

13 regulated entities; 

14 (I) freezing data collection to the detriment 

15 of supervision and enforcement; 

16 (J) seeking to block the publication of the 

17 nature of consumers’ complaints and how enti18 ties resolved them in the publicly available and 

19 transparent Consumer Complaint Database; 

20 (K) restricting key input and feedback 

21 from a wide range of external stakeholders by 

22 effectively terminating members’ positions on 

23 three advisory boards, including the statutorily 

24 mandated Consumer Advisory Board; 


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1 (L) proposing policies, including those re2 garding no-action letters, model disclosure pilot 

3 projects, and product sandboxes, that could put 

4 many kinds of financial institutions in an en5 forcement-free zone, letting bad actors that 

6 harm consumers off the hook entirely from en7 forcement, and allowing them to ignore the law; 

8 and 

9 (M) neglecting to impose promptly any 

10 civil money penalty on a bank when it was 

11 found to be, among other things, improperly ob12 taining consumer reports and furnishing to con13 sumer reporting agencies inaccurate informa14 tion about consumers’ credit. 

15 (10) The repeated efforts under Mr. Mulvaney’s 

16 leadership to hamstring the good work, passion, 

17 commitment, and the capacity of dedicated profes18 sional, career Consumer Bureau staff to fulfill the 

19 agency’s statutory mission has likely contributed to 

20 low employee morale. According to a government21 wide annual survey published in December 2018 

22 that was conducted by the nonprofit, nonpartisan 

23 Partnership for Public Service, the Consumer Bu24 reau experienced the largest decline in employee mo25 rale for a government agency of its size. A workplace 


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1 with low morale undermines, among other things, 

2 the agency’s ability to hold bad actors accountable 

3 when they harm consumers, and if unaddressed, will 

4 distort the functioning of fair and competitive con5 sumer marketplaces. 

6 (11) Despite the fact that the agency has been 

7 referred to as the Consumer Financial Protection 

8 Bureau since it was created in 2010, Mr. Mulvaney 

9 opted to change the agency’s well-known name. Al10 though this decision is supposedly intended to ensure 

11 that the agency is in compliance with Dodd-Frank, 

12 when this change is viewed in conjunction with the 

13 other detrimental actions to undermine the effective14 ness of the agency, it can only be interpreted as an 

15 attempt to reduce the public’s awareness of, and sig16 nificant support for, the agency’s role as the top 

17 Federal consumer cop as well as to obscure the 

18 public’s ability to easily identify the appropriate 

19 Federal agency to contact when faced with predatory 

20 behavior by financial actors. As such, while some 

21 may view this particular decision as minor, the ac22 tion served as an important symbolic and literal ma23 neuver by the Trump Administration, through its 

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1 sumer Bureau. Director Kathy Kraninger, who was 

2 duly nominated by the President and confirmed by 

3 the Senate, announced plans in an email to staff on 

4 December 19, 2018, to reverse course and return to 

5 utilizing the agency’s well-known name. However, 

6 questions remain regarding how this change will be 

7 implemented and to what extent the agency may 

8 continue to utilize Mr. Mulvaney’s preferred name in 

9 certain circumstances. 

10 (12) During Mr. Mulvaney’s more than 12- 

11 month tenure running the agency, he only appeared 

12 once before the House Financial Services Committee 

13 to discuss his activities at the Consumer Bureau. 

14 This is despite the fact that the law requires, at a 

15 minimum, the Director’s testimony before the Com16 mittee semi-annually. This weak congressional over17 sight under the direction of the previous Republican 

18 Majority pales in comparison to their oversight of 

19 the Consumer Bureau during former Director Rich20 ard Cordray’s tenure. During Director Cordray’s 

21 tenure, he and other senior Consumer Bureau offi22 cials testified before Congress more than 60 times; 

23 the agency was compelled to produce more than 

24 200,000 pages of documents in response to over 90 

25 letters of inquiry; more than 20 subpoenas were sent 


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1 to the Consumer Bureau; and several of the Con2 sumer Bureau’s former and current employees were 

3 compelled to sit for depositions over 21 days, that 

4 lasted 136 hours, and produced 3,194 pages of tran5 scripts. 

6 (13) Dodd-Frank gives the Director of the Con7 sumer Bureau broad administrative and executive 

8 powers to, among other things: fix the number of, 

9 and appoint and direct, all employees of the agency; 

10 direct the establishment and maintenance of divi11 sions or other offices within the agency; determine 

12 the character of, and the necessity for, the obliga13 tions and expenditure of funds; and the use and ex14 penditure of funds. These powers, however, are re15 quired to be exercised in a manner consistent with 

16 carrying out the responsibilities under Title X of 

17 Dodd-Frank, which includes complying with the enu18 merated Federal consumer financial laws under the 

19 Title, and satisfying the obligations in other applica20 ble laws. Mr. Mulvaney’s destructive actions have 

21 demonstrated the need for legislation to reorient the 

22 Director’s discretionary authority to ensure the 

23 maintenance of all statutorily mandated policies, 

24 functions, and offices of the Consumer Bureau re25 gardless of who is leading the agency. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—The following is the sense 

2 of Congress: 

3 (1) The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

4 should meet its statutory purpose in a transparent 

5 and accountable manner by operating in a way that 

6 is consistent with both the spirit and plain letter of 

7 the law. This includes the agency fully carrying out 

8 the agency’s statutory purpose, objectives, and func9 tions, and the agency being transparent, timely, and 

10 responsive to all requests from Congress. 

11 (2) Dodd-Frank underscores that the agency is 

12 designed to serve as an independent Federal agency 

13 that is primarily focused on the protection of all con14 sumers, without any undue influence of partisan 

15 whims and special industry interests, in carrying out 

16 its responsibilities and duties. 

17 (3) The official name of the agency should be 

18 consistent with this mandate, and the agency should, 

19 figuratively and literally, put ‘‘Consumers’’ first by 

20 using its better-known name as the ‘‘Consumer Fi21 nancial Protection Bureau’’. Thus, any remaining 

22 utilization by the agency of the name, ‘‘Bureau of 

23 Consumer Financial Protection’’, or the acronym 

24 ‘‘BCFP’’, should cease in all forms. 


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1 (4) The statute establishing the Consumer Bu2 reau has been grossly misinterpreted under Mr. 

3 Mulvaney’s leadership, in a manner that is incon4 sistent with the agency’s statutory purpose, objec5 tives, and functions. One example of this was Mr. 

6 Mulvaney’s inane suggestion that the statutory re7 quirement for the Director to appear before relevant 

8 Congressional Committees to discuss its semi-annual 

9 reports could be interpreted as requiring the Direc10 tor merely to attend a hearing and not answer ques11 tions, despite the well-established interpretation of a 

12 similar statutory requirement for the Chair of the 

13 Federal Reserve Board of Governors to appear be14 fore the House Financial Services Committee and 

15 the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

16 Committee on a semi-annual basis about the mone17 tary policy report, as required by the Humphrey18 Hawkins Full Employment Act. In the face of such 

19 blatant and disrespectful attempts to warp the au20 thorizing and oversight role of the first branch of 

21 the Federal Government—the United States Con22 gress—by the Trump Administration, Congress 

23 must, in this instance, now refine the Consumer Bu24 reau’s authority to ensure that the vital role that the 

25 Consumer Bureau should be playing within the 


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1 country’s financial regulatory regime is not effec2 tively destroyed by the agency’s current leadership. 

3 (5) The Consumer Bureau, now under a new 

4 Director, should promptly reverse all anti-consumer 

5 actions taken during Mr. Mulvaney’s tenure, includ6 ing the actions identified by this legislation, to en7 sure that the agency is fully complying with its stat8 utory purpose, objectives, and functions to protect 

9 all consumers, including communities of color and 

10 vulnerable populations. One important action is for 

11 the Consumer Bureau to resume robust fair lending 

12 enforcement to ensure that every consumer has fair 

13 and equal access to affordable financial products and 

14 services. Another demonstration of this would be for 

15 the Consumer Bureau to immediately resume super16 vision of its regulated entities for compliance with 

17 the Military Lending Act to ensure for the most ro18 bust and efficient protection of active-duty 

19 servicemembers and their families. Other examples 

20 include the Consumer Bureau significantly revising 

21 its strategic plan to align it with its statutory pur22 pose, objectives and functions, and for the agency to 

23 immediately resume coordinating closely with other 

24 Federal agencies, such as the Department of Edu25 cation and the Department of Defense, and State 


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1 regulators, as is required by section 1015 of Dodd2 Frank to, ‘‘promote consistent regulatory treatment 

3 of consumer financial and investment products and 

4 services.’’. 

5 (6) While the legislation is a direct response to 

6 address many of the misguided decisions that have 

7 been orchestrated under Mr. Mulvaney’s leadership 

8 at the Consumer Bureau that have been exposed to 

9 the public, as of the date of the bill’s introduction, 

10 and sharply criticized by numerous Federal and 

11 State officials, including law enforcement, as well as 

12 organizations representing servicemembers, senior 

13 citizens, and other vulnerable consumer populations, 

14 this legislation should not be viewed as an exhaus15 tive list to fix all the damaging actions that may 

16 have occurred at this agency since the departure of 

17 former Director Cordray in November 2017, particu18 larly since detailed information revealing the full 

19 scope, nature, and extent of the current flawed oper20 ation of the agency, and the adverse impact result21 ing from these actions, may not yet be publicly avail22 able. Rather, this legislation should be interpreted as 

23 an attempt to highlight and resolve a small sample 

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1 sions, and actions that have occurred since Novem2 ber 2017. 

3 SEC. 3. CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1011(a) of the Consumer 

5 Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5491(a)) is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro7 tection’’ and inserting ‘‘Consumer Financial Protection 

8 Bureau’’. 

9 (b) DEEMING OF NAME.—Any reference in any law, 

10 regulation, document, record, or other paper of the United 

11 States to the ‘‘Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’’ 

12 shall be deemed a reference to the ‘‘Consumer Financial 

13 Protection Bureau’’. 

14 (c) NAME USE REQUIREMENT.—Section 1011 of the 

15 Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 

16 5491) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(f) NAME USE REQUIREMENT.—The Consumer Fi18 nancial Protection Bureau shall refer to itself in any pub19 lic communication, including on any website, as the ‘Con20 sumer Financial Protection Bureau’ or the ‘CFPB’.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Acts and provisions described 

23 under subsection (b) are amended by striking ‘‘Bureau of 

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1 tents) and inserting ‘‘Consumer Financial Protection Bu2 reau’’. 

3 (b) ACTS TO CONFORM.—The Acts and provisions 

4 described in this subsection are as follows: 

5 (1) The Alternative Mortgage Transaction Par6 ity Act of 1982 (12 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.). 

7 (2) The Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 

8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

9 (3) The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 

10 Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). 

11 (4) The Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 

12 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.). 

13 (5) The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 

14 U.S.C. 1811 et seq.). 

15 (6) The Federal Financial Institutions Exam16 ination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3201 et 

17 seq.). 

18 (7) The Financial Institutions Reform, Recov19 ery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (12 U.S.C. 1811 

20 note et seq.). 

21 (8) The Financial Literacy and Education Im22 provement Act (20 U.S.C. 9701 et seq.). 

23 (9) Section 626 of the Financial Services and 

24 General Government Appropriations Act, 2009 (divi25 sion D of Public Law 111–8; 12 U.S.C. 5538). 


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1 (10) The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (12 U.S.C. 

2 1811 note et seq.). 

3 (11) The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 

4 1975 (12 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.). 

5 (12) Section 10(a)(4) of the Homeowners Pro6 tection Act of 1998 (12 U.S.C. 4901 et seq.). 

7 (13) The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 

8 U.S.C. App 2). 

9 (14) The Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure 

10 Act (15 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

11 (15) The Real Estate Settlement Procedures 

12 Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.). 

13 (16) Title LXII of the Revised Statutes of the 

14 United States (12 U.S.C. 21 et seq.). 

15 (17) The Right to Financial Privacy Act of 

16 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.). 

17 (18) The S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 

18 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.). 

19 (19) The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud 

20 and Abuse Prevention Act (15 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.). 

21 (20) Sections 552a(w) and 3132(a)(1)(D) of 

22 title 5, United States Code. 

23 (21) Section 987(g)(3)(E) of title 10, United 

24 States Code. 


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1 (22) Sections 3502(5) and 3513(c) of title 44, 

2 United States Code. 

3 SEC. 5. EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATION POWERS. 

4 (a) OFFICE RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section 1012 of the 

5 Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 

6 5492) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub8 section (d); and 

9 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(c) OFFICE RESPONSIBILITIES.—Notwithstanding 

12 subsections (a) and (b), section 1013(a), and any other 

13 provision of law, with respect to the specific functional 

14 units and offices described under subsections (b), (c), (d), 

15 (e), (g), and (h) of section 1013 and the advisory boards 

16 described under section 1014, the Director— 

17 ‘‘(1) shall ensure that such functional units, of18 fices, and boards perform the functions, duties, and 

19 coordination assigned to them under the applicable 

20 provision of section 1013 or 1014; and 

21 ‘‘(2) may not reorganize or rename such units, 

22 offices, and boards in a manner not provided for 

23 under the applicable provision of section 1013 or 

24 1014.’’. 


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1 (b) DUTY TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE STAFFING.—Sec2 tion 1013(a)(1) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 

3 of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493(a)(1)) is amended by adding at 

4 the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(D) DUTY TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE

6 STAFFING.—The Director shall ensure that the 

7 specific functional units and offices established 

8 under section 1013, as well as other units and 

9 offices with supervisory and enforcement duties, 

10 are provided with sufficient staff to carry out 

11 the functions, duties, and coordination of those 

12 units and offices.’’. 

13 (c) LIMITATION ON POLITICAL APPOINTEES.—Sec14 tion 1013(a)(1) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 

15 of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493(a)(1)) is amended by adding at 

16 the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(E) LIMITATION ON POLITICAL AP18 POINTEES.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In appointing em20 ployees of the Bureau who are political ap21 pointees, the Director shall ensure that the 

22 number and duties of such political ap23 pointees are as similar as possible to those 

24 of the other Federal primary financial reg25 ulatory agencies. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) POLITICAL APPOINTEES DE2 FINED.—For purposes of this subpara3 graph, the term ‘political appointee’ means 

4 an employee who holds— 

5 ‘‘(I) a position which has been 

6 excepted from the competitive service 

7 by reason of its confidential, policy-de8 termining, policy-making, or policy-ad9 vocating character; 

10 ‘‘(II) a position in the Senior Ex11 ecutive Service as a noncareer ap12 pointee (as such term is defined in 

13 section 3132(a) of title 5, United 

14 States Code); or 

15 ‘‘(III) a position under the Exec16 utive Schedule (subchapter II of chap17 ter 53 of title 5, United States 

18 Code).’’. 

19 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF COMPLAINT INFORMA20 TION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1013(b)(3) of the 

22 Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 

23 U.S.C. 5493(b)(3)) is amended— 

24 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 


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1 (i) by inserting ‘‘publicly available’’ 

2 before ‘‘website’’; 

3 (ii) by inserting ‘‘publicly available’’ 

4 before ‘‘database’’, each place such term 

5 appears; and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: ‘‘The Director shall ensure that the 

8 landing page of the main website of the 

9 Bureau contains a clear and conspicuous 

10 hyperlink to the consumer complaint data11 base described in this subparagraph and 

12 shall ensure that such database is user13 friendly and in plain writing (as such term 

14 is defined in the Plain Writing Act of 

15 2010). The Director shall ensure that all 

16 information on the website or the database 

17 that explains how to file a complaint with 

18 the Bureau, as well as all reports of the 

19 Bureau with respect to information con20 tained in the database, shall be provided in 

21 each of the five most commonly spoken 

22 languages, other than English, in the 

23 United States, as determined by the Bu24 reau of the Census on an ongoing basis, 


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1 and in formats accessible to individuals 

2 with hearing or vision impairments.’’; and 

3 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(E) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMA5 TION.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Director 

7 shall— 

8 ‘‘(I) make all consumer com9 plaints available to the public on a 

10 website of the Bureau; 

11 ‘‘(II) place a clear and con12 spicuous hyperlink on the landing 

13 page of the main website of the Bu14 reau to the website described under 

15 subclause (I); and 

16 ‘‘(III) ensure that such website— 

17 ‘‘(aa) is searchable and sort18 able by both consumer financial 

19 product or service and by covered 

20 person; and 

21 ‘‘(bb) is user-friendly and 

22 written in plain language. 

23 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSION OF COMPLAINTS SUB24 MITTED WITH INQUIRIES.—For purposes 

25 of clause (i), in addition to all complaints 


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1 described under subparagraph (A), con2 sumer complaints shall include any com3 plaints submitted with, or as part of, an 

4 inquiry described under section 1034. 

5 ‘‘(iii) REMOVAL OF PERSONALLY

6 IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.—In making 

7 the information described under clause (i) 

8 available to the public, the Director shall 

9 remove all personally identifiable informa10 tion.’’. 

11 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the 

13 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall 

14 ensure— 

15 (i) that the database and website de16 scribed under section 1013(b)(3) of the 

17 Consumer Financial Protection Act of 

18 2010 have, at a minimum, the same avail19 ability, transparency, and functionality 

20 that such database and website had prior 

21 to November 24, 2017; and 

22 (ii) that consumers are able, at a min23 imum, to submit complaints to the Bureau 

24 with respect to— 


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1 (I) any covered person or service 

2 provider; and 

3 (II) any financial product or 

4 service. 

5 (B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

6 paragraph, the terms ‘‘covered person’’, ‘‘finan7 cial product or service’’, and ‘‘service provider’’ 

8 have the meaning given those terms, respec9 tively, under section 1002 of the Consumer Fi10 nancial Protection Act of 2010. 

11 (e) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

12 (1) REPORT ON CURRENT MOUS.—Not later 

13 than the end of the 30-day period beginning on the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the 

15 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall issue a 

16 report to the Committee on Financial Services of the 

17 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

18 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate 

19 listing— 

20 (A) each memorandum of understanding in 

21 effect with the Bureau on November 24, 2017; 

22 (B) any changes made to such a memo23 randum of understanding since such date, in24 cluding any memorandum of understanding re25 scinded since such date; and 


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1 (C) a justification for each such change or 

2 rescission. 

3 (2) SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT ON MOUS.—Section 

4 1016(c) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 

5 of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496(c)) is amended— 

6 (A) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

7 the end; 

8 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe9 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(10) a list of each memorandum of under12 standing in effect with the Bureau, any changes 

13 made to a memorandum of understanding since the 

14 last report was made under subsection (b), and a 

15 justification for each such change;’’. 

16 (3) REESTABLISHMENT OF MEMORANDA OF UN17 DERSTANDING.—The memoranda of understanding 

18 between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

19 and the Department of Education titled ‘‘Memo20 randum of Understanding Between the Bureau of 

21 Consumer Financial Protection and the U.S. De22 partment of Education Concerning the Sharing of 

23 Information’’ (October 19, 2011) and ‘‘Memo24 randum of Understanding Concerning Supervisory 

25 and Oversight Cooperation and Related Information 


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1 Sharing Between the U.S. Department of Education 

2 and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’’ 

3 (January 9, 2014)— 

4 (A) shall remain in effect and may not be 

5 terminated by any party to such memoranda; 

6 and 

7 (B) may only be amended or revised if the 

8 parties to the memoranda determine that such 

9 amendment or revision would promote better 

10 interagency coordination to the benefit of con11 sumers. 

12 (f) ADDITIONAL REPORT INFORMATION ON CON13 SUMER SAVINGS.—Section 1013 of the Consumer Finan14 cial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493) is amended 

15 by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL REPORT INFORMATION ON CON17 SUMER SAVINGS.—In issuing each report required under 

18 section 502(d) of the Credit CARD Act of 2009, the Bu19 reau shall include a numerical estimate of the amount that 

20 such Act has saved consumers in fees impacted by such 

21 Act, relative to the level of such fees prior to the enact22 ment of such Act.’’. 

23 (g) RESTORATION OF RULE PROHIBITING FORCED

24 ARBITRATION IN CONSUMER CONTRACTS.— 


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1 (1) REPEAL OF JOINT RESOLUTION.—Public 

2 Law 115–74 is hereby repealed. 

3 (2) RESTORATION OF RULE.—Not later than 

4 the end of the 3-day period beginning on the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, the Consumer Financial 

6 Protection Bureau shall reissue the final rule of the 

7 Bureau specified in Public Law 115–74 (relating to 

8 ‘‘Arbitration Agreements’’) in the same form as such 

9 rule existed on the day before the date of enactment 

10 of Public Law 115–74, except the Bureau shall 

11 specify that the rule takes effect after the end of the 

12 60-day period beginning on the date such rule is re13 issued. 

14 SEC. 6. OFFICES OF THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTEC15 TION BUREAU. 

16 (a) CLARIFICATION OF THE DUTIES OF THE OFFICE

17 OF FAIR LENDING AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY.—Section 

18 1013(c)(2) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 

19 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493(c)(2)) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘Office of Fair Lending and 

21 Equal Opportunity shall have such powers and du22 ties as the Director may delegate to the Office, in23 cluding’’ and inserting ‘‘powers and duties of the Of24 fice of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity shall in25 clude’’; 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (3) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

4 and inserting a semicolon; and 

5 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(E) implementing the Bureau’s enforce7 ment and supervisory authority with respect to 

8 fair lending laws; and 

9 ‘‘(F) such additional powers and duties as 

10 the Director may determine appropriate.’’. 

11 (b) OFFICE OF STUDENTS AND YOUNG CON12 SUMERS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1013 of the Con14 sumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 

15 5493), as amended by section 5(f), is further 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(j) OFFICE OF STUDENTS AND YOUNG CON18 SUMERS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall, not 

20 later than the end of the 60-day period beginning on 

21 the date of enactment of this section, establish an 

22 Office of Students and Young Consumers, which 

23 shall work to empower students, young people, and 

24 their families to make more informed financial deci25 sions about saving and paying for college, accessing 


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1 safer and more affordable financial products and 

2 services, all matters related to private education 

3 loans (as defined under section 1035(e)), and repay4 ing student loan debt, including private education 

5 loans. 

6 ‘‘(2) HEAD OF THE OFFICE.—The head of the 

7 Office of Students and Young Consumers shall be 

8 the Assistant Director and Student Loan Ombuds9 man, and the Assistant Director and Student Loan 

10 Ombudsman shall carry out all functions established 

11 under section 1035 through the Office of Students 

12 and Young Consumers. 

13 ‘‘(3) SUPERVISORY, ENFORCEMENT, AND REGU14 LATORY MATTERS.—The Office of Students and 

15 Young Consumers shall assist in all supervisory, en16 forcement, and regulatory matters of the Bureau re17 lated to the functions of the Office. 

18 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION.—The Director shall enter 

19 into memoranda of understanding and similar agree20 ments with the Department of Education and other 

21 Federal and State agencies, as appropriate, in order 

22 to carry out the business of the Office of Students 

23 and Young Consumers. 

24 ‘‘(5) REPORT ON RISKS TO YOUNG CONSUMERS

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1 nually, the Assistant Director and Student Loan 

2 Ombudsman shall issue a report to Congress con3 taining an analysis of complaints submitted to the 

4 Bureau by young consumers and student borrowers 

5 during the previous year and offering an inde6 pendent evaluation of risks to young consumers and 

7 student borrowers posed by policies and practices in 

8 the marketplace for consumer financial products and 

9 services. 

10 ‘‘(6) COLLECTION OF STUDENT LOAN SERVICER

11 DATA.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Direc13 tor and Student Loan Ombudsman shall re14 quire each servicer of student loans to submit 

15 an annual report to the Assistant Director with 

16 information regarding the servicer’s loan port17 folio, including data regarding the following: 

18 ‘‘(i) The size of the servicer’s port19 folio. 

20 ‘‘(ii) The repayment status of unique 

21 accounts. 

22 ‘‘(iii) Borrower-initiated and servicer23 initiated contacts, and the outcome of each 

24 such contact. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) Income-driver repayment appli2 cations and recertifications. 

3 ‘‘(v) Any other data the Assistant Di4 rector and Student Loan Ombudsman de5 termines necessary to carry out the func6 tions of the Office of Students and Young 

7 Consumers. 

8 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—The Assistant Director 

9 and Student Loan Ombudsman shall include, in 

10 each report required under section 1035(d)(1), 

11 a description of the information collected under 

12 this paragraph, along with any findings or de13 terminations the Assistant Director made with 

14 respect to such information. 

15 ‘‘(C) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 90 days 

16 after the enactment of this subsection, the Bu17 reau shall issue guidance to student loan 

18 servicers to facilitate the data collection re19 quired under this paragraph.’’. 

20 (2) RENAMING AND APPOINTMENT CLARIFICA21 TION OF THE PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN OMBUDS22 MAN.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 1035 of the 

24 Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 

25 U.S.C. 5535) is amended— 


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1 (i) in the heading of the section by 

2 striking ‘‘PRIVATE EDUCATION’’ and in3 serting ‘‘ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND

4 STUDENT’’; 

5 (ii) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘The 

6 Secretary, in consultation with the Direc7 tor, shall designate a Private Education 

8 Loan Ombudsman’’ and inserting ‘‘The 

9 Director shall designate an individual as 

10 the Assistant Director and Student Loan 

11 Ombudsman’’; 

12 (iii) in subsection (b), by striking 

13 ‘‘The Secretary and the Director’’ and in14 serting ‘‘The Director’’; and 

15 (iv) in subsection (d)(2), by inserting 

16 ‘‘the Director,’’ before ‘‘the Secretary,’’. 

17 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 

18 contents under section 1(b) of the Dodd-Frank 

19 Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection 

20 Act is amended, in the item relating to section 

21 1035, by striking ‘‘Private education’’ and in22 serting ‘‘Assistant director and student’’. 

23 (C) DEEMING OF NAME.—Any reference in 

24 any law, regulation, document, record, or other 

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1 cation Loan Ombudsman’’ shall be deemed a 

2 reference to the ‘‘Assistant Director and Stu3 dent Loan Ombudsman’’. 

4 (c) SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ON CER5 TAIN OFFICES OF THE BUREAU.—Section 1016(c) of the 

6 Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 

7 5496(c)), as amended by section 5(e)(2), is further 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(11) with respect to each of the specific func10 tional units and offices established under section 

11 1013— 

12 ‘‘(A) a detailed description of the activities 

13 of the unit or office since the last report was 

14 made under subsection (b); and 

15 ‘‘(B) an analysis of the efforts of the Bu16 reau to achieve the duties of the unit or office; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(12) with respect to each specific functional 

19 units and offices established under section 1013, as 

20 well as each other unit and office with supervisory 

21 and enforcement duties, a break down of the number 

22 of political and professional career staff assigned to 

23 and employed by each unit or office at the end of 

24 the reporting period.’’. 


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1 (d) FUNCTION OF ANY UNIT OR OFFICE ESTAB2 LISHED TO CONDUCT COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS.—Any 

3 unit or office established to conduct cost benefit analysis 

4 within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall, 

5 as its sole function, carry out the considerations required 

6 by section 1022(b)(2)(A) of the Consumer Financial Pro7 tection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5512(b)(2)(A)). 

8 SEC. 7. CONSUMER ADVISORY BOARD REFORMS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1014 of the Consumer Fi10 nancial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5494) is 

11 amended— 

12 (1) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

15 ‘‘(1) QUALIFICATIONS.—In appointing the 

16 members of the Consumer Advisory Board, the Di17 rector shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) seek to assemble a diverse and inclu19 sive group of experts in consumer protection, fi20 nancial services, community development, fair 

21 lending and civil rights, and consumer financial 

22 products or services and representatives of de23 pository institutions that primarily serve under24 served communities, representatives of 

25 servicemembers, veterans, and their families, 


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1 and representatives of communities that have 

2 been significantly impacted by higher-priced 

3 mortgage loans, and seek representation of the 

4 interests of covered persons and consumers, 

5 without regard to party affiliation; 

‘‘(B) ensure that at least 2 6 ⁄3 of the mem7 bers represent the interests of consumers, in8 cluding experts in consumer protection, fair 

9 lending, civil rights, and representatives of com10 munities that have been significantly impacted 

11 by higher-priced mortgage loans and other 

12 products that resulted in consumer harm; 

13 ‘‘(C) ensure that at least one member is an 

14 expert in consumer privacy; and 

15 ‘‘(D) seek to appoint individuals involved 

16 in the industries affected by the Bureau, includ17 ing individuals who represent community banks, 

18 credit unions, small business owners, or experts 

19 in United States economic growth and jobs. 

20 ‘‘(2) NUMBER OF MEMBERS.—The Director 

21 shall appoint not fewer than 25 members to the 

22 Consumer Advisory Board, and not fewer than 6 

23 members shall be appointed upon the recommenda24 tion of the regional Federal Reserve Bank Presi25 dents, on a rotating basis. 


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1 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP RIGHTS AFTER CHARTER

2 CHANGE.—Any change to the charter for the Con3 sumer Advisory Board affecting the membership 

4 shall not preclude prior or current members from 

5 applying for consideration to serve on a reconsti6 tuted Consumer Advisory Board.’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (c)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘meet from’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘meet in person from’’; and 

10 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘The Bureau shall provide adequate notice to 

12 the members of the Consumer Advisory Board 

13 of the time and date of each meeting, and of 

14 any meeting cancellations.’’. 

15 (b) INCLUSION OF THE DIRECTOR IN MEETINGS AND

16 ACCESS TO BUREAU STAFF.—Section 1014 of the Con17 sumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5494) 

18 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(e) INCLUSION OF THE DIRECTOR IN MEETINGS

20 AND ACCESS TO BUREAU STAFF.—With respect to each 

21 in person meeting of the Consumer Advisory Board— 

22 ‘‘(1) the Director shall attend such meeting in 

23 person; and 

24 ‘‘(2) the Director shall ensure that the members 

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1 tunity to meet and engage in person with all appro2 priate staff and office of the Bureau.’’. 

3 (c) TREATMENT OF MEMBERS OF THE CONSUMER

4 ADVISORY BOARD.—Notwithstanding any other law— 

5 (1) any member of the Consumer Advisory 

6 Board of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

7 on November 1, 2017, may continue to serve as a 

8 member of such advisory board until March 27, 

9 2020, and may not be removed from such position 

10 without cause by the Director of the Bureau until 

11 such date; and 

12 (2) any member of the Consumer Advisory 

13 Board of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

14 on the date of enactment of this Act, may continue 

15 to serve as a member of such advisory board until 

16 March 27, 2020, and may not be removed from such 

17 position without cause by the Director of the Bureau 

18 until such date. 

19 (d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ADVISORY

20 COMMITTEES.—Section 1013 of the Consumer Financial 

21 Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493), as amended by 

22 section 6(b)(1), is further amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(k) ADVISORY COMMITTEE REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) QUALIFICATIONS.—In appointing members 

2 of any advisory committee, other than the Consumer 

3 Advisory Board, the Director shall ensure that at 

least 1 4 ⁄3 of the members represent the interests of 

5 consumers, including experts in consumer protection, 

6 fair lending, civil rights, and representatives of com7 munities that have been significantly impacted by 

8 higher-priced mortgage loans and other products 

9 that resulted in consumer harm. 

10 ‘‘(2) SELECTION OF MEMBERS REPRESENTING

11 MINORITY-OWNED, WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES, 

12 AND MILITARY- AND VETERAN-SERVING FINANCIAL

13 INSTITUTIONS.—In appointing members of any advi14 sory committee, the Director shall seek to promote 

15 diversity and inclusion in making appointments, in16 cluding by appointing individuals who represent mi17 nority-owned, women-owned businesses, and 

18 military- and veteran-serving financial institutions.’’. 

19 SEC. 8. DISCRETIONARY SURPLUS FUNDS. 

20 Section 7(a)(3)(A) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 

21 U.S.C. 289(a)(3)(A)) is amended by striking 

22 ‘‘$6,825,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$6,797,000,000 (re23 duced by $10,000,000) (reduced by $10,000,000) (re24 duced by $10,000,000)’’. 


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1 SEC. 9. MODIFICATION OF THE EXEMPTION FROM CERTAIN 

2 DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Home Mort4 gage Disclosure Act of 1975 (12 U.S.C. 2803) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) by striking subsection (i) and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(i) EXEMPTION FROM CERTAIN DISCLOSURE RE9 QUIREMENTS.—The requirements of paragraphs (4), (5), 

10 and (6) of subsection (b) shall not apply with respect to 

11 any depository institution described in section 303(3)(A) 

12 that has total assets, as of the most recent full fiscal year 

13 of the institution, of $30 million or less.’’; and 

14 (2) by striking subsection (o). 

15 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

16 Section 104 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, 

17 and Consumer Protection Act (Public Law 115–174; 132 

18 Stat. 1301) is amended by striking subsection (b). 

19 SEC. 10. LIMITATION ON PROVIDING EXEMPTIONS FROM 

20 HMDA REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

21 Section 1027 of the Consumer Financial Protection 

22 Act (12 U.S.C. 5517) is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(t) LIMITATION ON PROVIDING EXEMPTIONS FROM

25 HMDA REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding 

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1 sure Act of 1975, the Bureau may not provide any person 

2 with an exemption from complying with any reporting re3 quirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 

4 1975 if such exemption did not exist on the date of enact5 ment of this subsection.’’. 

6 SEC. 11. LIMITATION ON MODIFYING HMDA DATA FIELDS. 

7 Section 1027 of the Consumer Financial Protection 

8 Act (12 U.S.C. 5517) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(u) LIMITATION ON MODIFYING HMDA DATA

11 FIELDS.—Notwithstanding any provision of this title or 

12 the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975, the Bureau 

13 may not eliminate, with respect to the reporting require14 ments under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975, 

15 any data fields that were required to be reported on the 

16 date of enactment of this subsection.’’. 

17 SEC. 12. MAINTAINING THE HMDA EXPLORER TOOL AND 

18 THE PUBLIC DATA PLATFORM API. 

19 The Consumer Financial protection Bureau may not 

20 retire the HMDA Explorer tool or the Public Data Plat21 form API. 


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1 SEC. 13. REPORT ON FAIR LENDING INVESTIGATIONS AND 

2 ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS. 

3 Section 1016 of the Consumer Financial Protection 

4 Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496) is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(d) REPORT ON FAIR LENDING INVESTIGATIONS

7 AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.—The Director shall issue 

8 a monthly report to Congress containing— 

9 ‘‘(1) the number of investigations opened and 

10 closed by the Bureau relating to potential fair lend11 ing violations; 

12 ‘‘(2) how many fair lending enforcement actions 

13 have been taken or referred; 

14 ‘‘(3) an analysis of consumer complaints relat15 ing to potential fair lending violations; and 

16 ‘‘(4) statistics on how many staff of the Office 

17 of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity are dedi18 cated to fair lending supervision and enforcement 

19 issues.’’. 

20 SEC. 14. DEBT COLLECTION. 

21 (a) REPORT ON DEBT COLLECTION COMPLAINTS

22 AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.—Section 1016 of the Con23 sumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496) 

24 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(e) REPORT ON DEBT COLLECTION COMPLAINTS

2 AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.—The Director shall issue 

3 a quarterly report to Congress containing— 

4 ‘‘(1) an analysis of the consumer complaints re5 ceived by the Bureau with respect to debt collection, 

6 including a State-by-State breakdown of such com7 plaints; and 

8 ‘‘(2) a list of enforcement actions taken against 

9 debt collectors during the previous 12 months.’’. 

10 (b) LIMITATION ON DEBT COLLECTION RULES.— 

11 Section 1022 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 

12 of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5512) is amended by adding at the 

13 end the following: 

14 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON DEBT COLLECTION RULES.— 

15 The Director may not issue any rule with respect to debt 

16 collection that allows a debt collector to send unlimited 

17 email and text messages to a consumer.’’. 

18 SEC. 15. CREDIT SCORES INCLUDED IN FREE ANNUAL DIS19 CLOSURES. 

20 Section 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

21 U.S.C. 1681g) is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end and in24 serting a period; 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘except that—’’ and all 

2 that follows through ‘‘(A) if the’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘except that if the’’; and 

4 (C) by striking subparagraph (B); 

5 (2) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(7) If the consumer reporting agency is a con8 sumer reporting agency that compiles and maintains 

9 files on consumers on a nationwide basis as de10 scribed in section 603(p), each such agency shall dis11 close a current credit score generated using the scor12 ing algorithm, formula, model, program, or mecha13 nism that is most frequently used to generate credit 

14 scores sold to creditors, subject to regulations of the 

15 Bureau, along with any information in the con16 sumer’s file at the time of the request concerning 

17 credit scores or any other risk scores or other pre18 dictors relating to the consumer, if such request is 

19 made in connection with a free annual disclosure 

20 made pursuant to section 612(a). 

21 ‘‘(8) Such other consumer information as the 

22 Bureau considers appropriate with respect to con23 sumer financial education, including the information 

24 required by subsection (f)(1), information describing 

25 the credit score of the consumer with respect to a 


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1 range of possible credit scores, and the general fac2 tors contributing to the credit scores of consumers.’’; 

3 and 

4 (3) in subsection (f)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

6 (i) by striking ‘‘, a consumer report7 ing agency’’ and all that follows through 

8 ‘‘shall include—’’ and inserting ‘‘or a risk 

9 score, a consumer reporting agency shall 

10 supply to the consumer—’’; and 

11 (ii) by amending subparagraph (A) to 

12 read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(A) any credit score or risk score in the 

14 file of the consumer at the consumer reporting 

15 agency;’’; 

16 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (i) by redesignating subparagraph (B) 

18 as subparagraph (C); and 

19 (ii) by striking subparagraph (A) and 

20 inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(A) CREDIT SCORE.—The term ‘credit 

22 score’ means a numerical value or a categoriza23 tion derived from a statistical tool or modeling 

24 system used by a person who makes or arVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 May 24, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1500.RFS H1500

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1 ranges a loan to predict the likelihood of certain 

2 credit behaviors, including default. 

3 ‘‘(B) RISK SCORE.—The term ‘risk score’ 

4 means a numerical value or a categorization de5 rived from a statistical tool or modeling system 

6 based upon information from a consumer report 

7 for the purpose of predicting the likelihood of 

8 certain behaviors or outcomes, and includes 

9 scores used for the underwriting of insurance.’’; 

10 (C) by striking paragraph (6) and insert11 ing the following: 

12 ‘‘(6) MAINTENANCE OF CREDIT SCORES.—All 

13 consumer reporting agencies shall maintain in the 

14 consumer’s file credit scores or any other risk scores 

15 or other predictors relating to the consumer for a 

16 period of not less than 1 year beginning on the date 

17 on which such information is generated.’’; 

18 (D) by striking paragraph (7) and redesig19 nating paragraphs (8) and (9) as paragraphs 

20 (7) and (8), respectively; and 

21 (E) in paragraph (7) (as so redesignated), 

22 by inserting before the period at the end the 

23 following: ‘‘, except that a consumer reporting 

24 agency described in section 603(p) shall provide 

25 a credit score without charge to the consumer 


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1 if the consumer is requesting the score in con2 nection with a free annual disclosure made pur3 suant to section 612(a)’’. 

4 SEC. 16. REPORT ON SENIOR CONSUMERS. 

5 Section 1016 of the Consumer Financial Protection 

6 Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496) is amended by adding at 

7 the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(f) REPORT ON SENIOR CONSUMERS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall issue an 

10 annual report to Congress containing— 

11 ‘‘(A) an analysis, in coordination with the 

12 Office of Financial Protection for Older Ameri13 cans, of consumer complaints from older Ameri14 cans, including a State-by-State breakdown of 

15 complaints by type of consumer financial prod16 uct or service; and 

17 ‘‘(B) any legislative or regulatory rec18 ommendations the Director may have to im19 prove consumer protections for older Ameri20 cans. 

21 ‘‘(2) OLDER AMERICANS DEFINED.—In this 

22 subsection, the term ‘older Americans’ means indi23 viduals who have attained the age of 62 years or 

24 more.’’. 


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1 SEC. 17. REPORT ON PAYDAY LOAN AND CAR-TITLE LOAN 

2 INVESTIGATIONS AND ENFORCEMENT AC3 TIONS. 

4 Section 1016 of the Consumer Financial Protection 

5 Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496) is amended by adding at 

6 the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(g) REPORT ON PAYDAY LOAN AND CAR-TITLE

8 LOAN INVESTIGATIONS AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.— 

9 The Director shall issue a quarterly report to Congress 

10 containing— 

11 ‘‘(1) the number of investigations opened and 

12 closed by the Bureau relating to payday loans and 

13 car-title loans; 

14 ‘‘(2) the number of enforcement actions that 

15 have been taken or referred relating to payday loans 

16 and car-title loans; 

17 ‘‘(3) an estimate of the amount of fees cus18 tomers have paid relating to payday loans and car19 title loans; 

20 ‘‘(4) an estimate of the number of times in the 

21 previous 12 months a typical payday loan customer 

22 has rolled over their loan; and 

23 ‘‘(5) an estimate of how many car-title loan 

24 customers lost their car in the previous 12 months.’’. 


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1 SEC. 18. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

3 take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, except 

4 that the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection 

5 Bureau shall have 30 days to complete any operational 

6 changes to the Bureau required by this Act or an amend7 ment made by this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 22, 2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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