Under previous Director Richard Cordray, the CFPB planned to conduct a survey of American consumers as part of the Bureau’s research on debt collection disclosures to consumers. The survey would have provided the CFPB with data on how well debt collection disclosure forms inform consumers about their rights and the debt collection process. This survey was to be part of research that would inform the issuance of a potential CFPB rule on debt collection.

When Mulvaney took over, he abruptly shelved this plan to get feedback from the American public. His action came after the bank and debt collector lobby urged the CFPB to not conduct the survey.

Additional Background

“The CFPB filed a notice with the Office or Regulatory Affairs to withdraw a plan to conduct a survey of 8,000 individuals as part of research into debt collection disclosures…. The debt collection industry applauded the withdrawal of the data collection, saying it was flawed and undermined the Paperwork Reduction Act.” [Kate Berry, “CFPB’s Mulvaney scraps survey for debt collection plan,” American Banker, 12/19/17.]

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), under the leadership of Mick Mulvaney, has withdrawn its request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct online surveys of consumers as part of research on debt collection disclosures. This move came after the American Bankers Association (ABA) urged the Bureau to do so.” [“ABA Urges CFPB To Scrap Debt Collection Survey (And They Did),” PYMNTS.com, 12/20/17.]

“Given ACA [Association of Credit and Collection Professionals] International’s consistent advocacy against the fundamental flaws of the proposed disclosure survey, ACA applauds the bureau’s new leadership for taking this much-needed, positive step.” [“Under New Leadership, CFPB Withdraws Proposed Debt Collection Disclosure Survey,” ACA News, 12/18/17.]