“So for our industry, the biggest worry was that they would delete the bureau or essentially carve it out – that all of its responsibilities and rules and regulations would still be in place but frozen in time. And from the industry standpoint, that was not ideal.”
Is the CFPB remaining in place a good outcome for the industry?
Both McKernan’s hearing, and the recent ruling against the CFPB, appear to have spurred confidence that the agency will remain in place for the foreseeable future – a positive development for the mortgage industry, even if it would like to see reforms enacted at the bureau.
“There are rules that the industry would like to see revised and updated or rescinded,” Idziak said. “There are certain functions that the bureau engages in and it publishes certain data that the industry relies on.
Melissa Cohn of William Raveis Mortgage says it’s “business as usual” for the mortgage industry despite the CFPB’s dismantling by DOGE. https://t.co/D8ye34cZZG
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) March 28, 2025
“So I think there’s a sense of relief in the industry that there’s going to be certainty going forward and a bit of positivity. Jonathan McKernan is someone who’s focused on legitimate consumer harms, not like [former director] Rohit Chopra trying to engineer a mortgage market that in [the CFPB’s] mind was more equitable and inclusive.”
No prospect of the mortgage market becoming the Wild Wild West
The latest ruling against the Trump administration’s scaling back of the CFPB also vindicated mortgage brokerages and lenders that have taken a calm outlook on those actions and stuck to a business-as-usual approach despite enforcement action and various lawsuits being thrown out.