Don’t Be Fooled: Mulvaney’s Mind Is Already Made Up About CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Database
Many of the Most Complained About Companies Are Some of Mulvaney’s Biggest Campaign Donors
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the public comment period ended for potential changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) consumer complaint database, which helps the bureau identify bad financial actors and resolve issues for consumers. Allied Progress, a consumer advocacy organization, called the process a farce, noting CFPB “Acting Director” Mick Mulvaney’s many public comments indicate his mind was made up long ago and that he is likely to withhold the names of offending companies from the public. The group also pointed out thatMulvaney took more than $140,000 from 19 of the top 30 companies with the most complaints in the database.
“It is almost as if Mick Mulvaney wants to take the yell out of the CFPB’s ‘Yelp’ and silence the voices of consumers that need the bureau’s help. The public complaint database is the most effective tool we have to help consumers who have been screwed over and to make sure they know they are not alone. It makes industry more honest and accountable,” asked Karl Frisch, executive director of Allied Progress.
He continued, “This broadside against the CFPB’s consumer complaints database is nothing new for Mulvaney. He’s been attacking it since his days in Congress and certainly hasn’t let up since seizing control of the bureau in November. He’s not interested in hearing what the public has to say. The entire process has been a farce — Mulvaney’s mind was made up long ago.”
What You Need To Know
- Mulvaney’s mind is already made up against the CFPB’s consumer complaint database. Mick Mulvaney has long been a skeptic of the CFPB’s consumer complaint database: in Congress he sponsored a bill to require verification before complaints were posted online, and since entering the bureau, Mulvaney has remarked that he didn’t see the need to run a “Yelp for Financial Services.” [H.R. 5491,” 114thCongress, 6/15/16 and Jasper Craven, “Trump’s Administration is Easy Street for Wall Street,” Vice Impact, 11/21/17; Julia Horowitz and Donna Borak, “Mick Mulvaney wants to shut public out of CFPB’s ‘Yelp’ of banks,” CNN Money, 04/24/18]
- Many of the most complained about companies are his former campaign donors. Mick Mulvaney’s campaign donors feature prominently in the complaint database. During his Congressional Career, Mulvaney took over $140,000 total from 19 of the top 30 companies with the most complaints in the database. [Mike Tanglis, “Pay-to-Play on Display: 19 of the 30 Companies With the Most Complaints in the CFPB Database Contributed to Mick Mulvaney,” CitizenVox5/8/18]
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