With “stroke of a pen,” CFPB withdraws controversial guidance docs issued under Dems

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has rescinded 39 guidance documents that had provided insight into the regulator’s thinking on a host of topics, including enforcement practices and how companies should handle customer complaints.

The CFPB, under acting director Russell Vought, withdrew its support of the 39 guidance documents in a notice published Monday in the Federal Register. Experts said the withdrawal of the documents means that compliance with CFPB rules just got a little easier.

“Much of the repealed guidance was quite controversial because it expanded legal requirements without formal rulemaking or even contradicted the statutes it related to,” said Scott Pearson, partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, who leads the firm’s consumer financial services group. “Compliance officers don’t need to worry about complying with that sort of repealed guidance.”