Credit inquiries for auto lending, revolving credit cards and mortgages fell sharply in March as unemployment surged, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report.

The bureau issued an interpretive rule clarifying that consumers under certain conditions can modify or waive waiting periods required by the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's chief operating officer will take a similar position at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, fulfilling one of the multiple recruiting goals the FHFA announced in January.

The bureau said it began developing the standards before the coronavirus pandemic. But more transfers may occur as some servicers struggle to meet their obligations during the economic downturn.

The agency is still moving forward on key regulations dealing with payday lending and mortgage underwriting despite new demands posed by the crisis.

The Borrower Protection Program enables the two agencies to exchange information about loss mitigation efforts and consumer complaints regarding specific servicers.

Five Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee sent a letter to Director Kathy Kraninger calling the agency's response to COVID-19 “tepid and ineffectual at best.”

The agency said lenders should avoid reporting delinquent payments to credit bureaus for consumers who have sought payment relief due to the pandemic.

The agency has relaxed some reporting requirements and joined other regulators in encouraging banks to help borrowers, but pressure is building on the bureau to do more to aid consumers suffering financial hardship.

The reprieve from mortgage data collection was among several changes to the agency’s supervisory and enforcement procedures to help firms responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accommodations for borrowers affected by the coronavirus pandemic, such as payment delays and fee waivers, are "positive and proactive actions that can manage or mitigate adverse impacts," the regulators said.

The pandemic has upended staffing plans, sparked concerns about servicers’ capacity to handle the expected crush of missed payments, and even raised questions about their ability to stay afloat.

The agencies were up and running Monday but have taken steps to allow employees to work from home.

Kathy Kraninger was grilled about whether her agency and others were doing enough to cushion consumers from the economic blow of the coronavirus crisis.

State and federal officials committed to providing “appropriate regulatory assistance” to banks whose customers may be hurt by the coronavirus outbreak and said prudent measures would not be subject to criticism by examiners.

Sen. Mark Warner led a group of Democratic senators in calling on bank, credit union and GSE regulators to give detailed instructions on helping consumer and commercial borrowers hurt by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The agency's effort to engage with lawmakers on a whistleblower award program is one of three initiatives the bureau announced to advance its strategy of preventing consumer harm.

Leonard Chanin, a senior official at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., has been tapped to serve on a part-time basis as the No. 2 official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a news report.

The court’s liberal bloc and Chief Justice John Roberts, who holds a crucial swing vote, appeared reluctant to remove a contentious provision that limits a president’s ability to fire a sitting director of the bureau.

John Roberts could play a familiar role as the swing vote in determining whether the Supreme Court curbs the consumer bureau’s power.