CFPA Bill Passes Committee Vote

The House Financial Services Committee has approved a bill that would create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency and revise the appraisal standards across the entire mortgage lending industry. By a 39-29 vote, the committee passed a bill which would give the newly-created CFPA director the authority to set and enforce the rules for mortgage and credit card lending. The new agency would take over the consumer lending rulemaking authority from the federal banking agencies. During the markup, the committee agreed to an amendment that would call on the CFPA director to work with the industry to establish one set of appraisal independence standards that would replace the Home Evaluation Code of Conduct adopted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.