Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

In its first three months of operation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau got more than 5,000 complaints about credit cards, the federal agency said in a report. "When consumers contact us, we get a snapshot of how the consumer finance markets are working," said Raj Date, the special Treasury Department advisor who is running the bureau until the Senate confirms a director. The agency, which launched on July 21, has made handling complaints a priority. The report covered complaints received through Oct. 21. "Many complaints show consumers struggling to understand the terms of credit cards and associated products like debt protection services," the report said.

WASHINGTON - New federal rules would require banks to provide homeowners with better information about their mortgages to avoid costly surprises, such as sharp interest rate increases, and provide better service to help them avoid foreclosure. The rules, to be proposed Friday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, are designed to prevent a repeat of the foreclosure crisis. They track an outline released in April by the agency, which was created in 2010 in part to help protect borrowers.

The government's newest regulator is ready to crack down on the nation's large credit reporting and debt collection companies, proposing tough new oversight on two arcane financial groups that affect nearly all consumers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed to subject the companies to federal oversight for the first time as part of its broad authority to regulate firms outside the banking system. By sending examiners to review their operations on a regular basis, the bureau hopes to spot problems before they arise at companies that book-end the consumer financial experience — firms that help determine who gets credit in the first place and those that pursue people unable to pay their bills.

WASHINGTON - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is launching a database that tracks which large banks have had the most complaints about their credit cards and how they were resolved - information some industry trade groups don't want made public. The goal of the searchable database is to provide more information to consumers, businesses and advocacy groups about an important financial product, said Richard Cordray, the agency's director. It will be limited at first to credit card complaints received since June 1 for banks with more than $10 billion in assets.

The newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau doesn't officially open for business until July 21. But the agency is already making its presence felt. The bureau has just debuted a new website, ConsumerFinance.gov, that features a getting-to-know-you video narrated by Ron Howard. Consumers are invited to post their concerns and offer suggestions for the bureau's priorities. And this week the agency sent a letter to leading bank executives urging them to provide more financial safeguards for military personnel and their families.

WASHINGTON — Got a beef with your mortgage company or loan servicer? Lots of people do, and thousands of them have been turning to a federal complaint hotline for action — or at least a quick response from the lender. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has opened up its bulging online complaint hotline files to public view, and the contents are startling: Although the CFPB's complaint window is open to various financial disputes — credit cards, student loans, credit reporting agencies, bank loans to consumers — by far the biggest source of complaints is home mortgages.

WASHINGTON - Senators questioned two of President Obama's nominees for key financial regulatory positions, and Democrats and Republicans appeared to like both of them. But only one of those candidates is expected to be confirmed. Mary Jo White, a former federal prosecutor, was on track to be confirmed as chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission after Tuesday's hearing by the Senate Banking committee. However, the path for Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who has been renominated by Obama, was still blocked by Republicans who want changes to the agency.

The blizzard of complex disclosure forms required in getting a mortgage soon could ease a bit as a new federal agency tries to streamline and simplify an important part of the process. In its first major move, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released two prototypes of shorter and easier-to-understand disclosure forms that lenders must give home buyers when they apply for a mortgage. The goal is to help consumers better comprehend the terms of the loans and compare them with mortgages available from other banks, Elizabeth Warren, the special White House and Treasury Department advisor helping to launch the consumer bureau, said Wednesday.

The agency protecting consumers in the financial marketplace plans to increase its budget 26% next year as it ramps up to full operation, but the newly installed director was short on details about where the money is going - raising the ire of Republicans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has started monitoring banks and related institutions for compliance with consumer laws, said it plans to spend $448 million next year, compared with $356 million it has budgeted for expenses this year.

House Republicans have been adamant since last year that they don't like the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — and they also made it apparent they don't like Elizabeth Warren, the Obama administration advisor who is helping launch the agency. After a bitter and contentious House oversight subcommittee hearing Tuesday, Warren showed that the feeling might be mutual. The clash highlighted how Warren has become a lightning rod for opponents of the agency, created by last year's financial reform law. And it also could explain why President Obama hasn't nominated her to be the agency's powerful full-time director despite strong support from congressional Democrats, consumer advocates and liberal interest groups.