CFPB Opens Up Applications for Consumer Advisory Board

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published an announcement soliciting applications for membership to its several advisory committees, including the Consumer Advisory Board (CAB). Per the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB is charged with seeking experts in, among other things, consumer protection and consumer financial products or services. 

While membership in the advisory committees generally lasts for a two-year term, the CAB has seen a flux in its lineup over the past couple of years. The CFPB's Former Acting Director Mick Mulvaney disbanded all advisory boards at the Bureau in June 2018. Later that year in September—still under Mulvaney's tenure—a new CAB was formed. In 2019, the CAB saw another round of applications. The 2019 CAB's membership contained mostly new faces (the 2018 CAB contained nine members, only four of which continued to the 2019 CAB).

Applications are available electronically. The application window is open through February 27, 2020. 

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insideARM Perspective

There is one sector of consumer finance that has been notably absent from the last two CABs: the debt collection industry. The last representative from the industry that sat on the CAB was Ohad Samet from TrueAccord, who was a member of the CAB that Mulvaney abruptly disbanded. Prior to that, Joann Needleman of Clark Hill served a full two-year term. Both Needleman and Samet were selected for the CAB when Former Director Richard Cordray ran the CFPB. 

Considering the CPFB's focus on debt collection, especially as it looks to modernize and innovate the industry through its proposed debt collection rules, it would be beneficial to have a representative from the industry sit on the advisory board. For this reason, we encourage industry members to apply.