WASHINGTON —The government’s new consumer-finance watchdog agency is prepared to sue companies that offer unfair or deceptive mortgages and credit cards, its director said Tuesday.
Addressing a congressional panel, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray defended his appointment to the post and assured critics that the agency will work with financial companies whenever possible.
“(But) we will not hesitate to use enforcement actions to right a wrong,” Cordray told the Republican-controlled subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee.
Cordray was addressing Congress for the first time since his recess appointment by President Barack Obama this month. He faces questions about the bureau’s actions and the legitimacy of his appointment.
Republicans call the appointment illegal because they say the Senate technically was not in recess.
The CFPB might lack credibility in part because it is run by a director whose “appointment was constitutionally questionable,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., chairman of the subcommittee.
McHenry is a major beneficiary of political donations from the payday-lending industry, which will face much tighter oversight because of Cor- dray’s appointment.
The Associated Press
