Bradley Partner Mike Gordon Quoted in Bloomberg Law on What to Expect Under CFPB Nominee Rohit Chopra

Bradley attorney Mike Gordon was quoted in Bloomberg Law on what the financial services industry can expect under Joe Biden's CFPB director nominee, Rohit Chopra. Chopra is expected to quickly increase the CFPB's enforcement and oversight, with a specific focus on COVID-19-related consumer relief.

Former CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger had said financial companies wouldn’t face enforcement if they showed “good-faith” efforts to provide loan forbearance and other consumer relief mandated under the CARES Act and other pandemic-related laws. That lenience would likely end under Chopra, said Gordon.

“Given the widespread hardship caused by the COVID-19 crisis, I would expect the CFPB to devote resources to issues with some nexus to the crisis, such as perhaps debt collection or credit reporting,” he said.

Chopra is likely to find ways to increase the CFPB’s powers by collaborating with newly empowered state regulators that are peppered with former CFPB staff, or using his bully pulpit to pressure the consumer finance industry, Gordon said.

“Rohit might be uniquely qualified to affect a rapid change in the CFPB’s direction: he knows the issues and what he wants to accomplish, he understands the agency, and he knows how to build support for agency initiatives,” he said. “And he rejoins a CFPB where a substantial proportion of the staff will support the direction he’ll take the agency.”

The original article, "CFPB Pick Chopra Expected to Quickly Expand Watchdog’s Reach," appeared in Bloomberg Law on January 21, 2021.