Obama names watchdog agency head via recess appointment – Connie Prater (Creditcard.com)
January 4, 2011

“Bypassing the U.S. Senate and prompting howls of rage from Republicans, President Obama used a recess appointment Wednesday to name former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to head the federal consumer financial protection watchdog agency. Consumer groups applaud Just as quickly, consumer groups applauded. ‘Until now, the CFPB has been fighting mounting consumer financial abuses with one arm tied behind its back,’ Travis Plunkett, legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America, said in a statement. He noted that 16 months have passed since Congress created the CFPB as part of the massive Wall Street reform law. ‘As Cordray takes over the CFPB, the list of questionable and predatory practices that consumers are coping [with] is growing, and includes: predatory practices targeted at military service members; mortgage foreclosure and servicing abuses; unfair and high-cost bank overdraft loans; plentiful fees and few protections for prepaid cards: internet payday lending and bank payday lending.’ ‘With a director in place, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) can finally provide fair and equal oversight to the marketplace,’ said Linda Sherry, director of national priorities for Consumer Action. ‘The CFPB can now fully fight for and protect consumers on the financial front. Consumers have been waiting far too long for this financial watchdog to have the authority to really sink its teeth into creating a better financial marketplace for all people — not just the 1 percent.’ ‘President Obama stood with consumers and families in making this crucial decision,’ Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, said in a statement. ‘Now that the CFPB has a director, it finally has its full authority to protect consumers everywhere in the financial marketplace, from a Wall Street bank to a payday lender or from a mortgage company to a credit bureau or anywhere else.’” Click here for more.