What is the Bureau of Consumer Protection
Bureau of Consumer Protection’s
mandate is to protect consumers against unfair, deceptive or fraudulent
practices. The Bureau enforces a variety of consumer protection laws
enacted by Congress, as well as trade regulation rules issued by the
Commission. Its actions include individual company and industry-wide
investigations, administrative and federal court litigation, rulemaking
proceedings, and consumer and business education. In addition, the
Bureau contributes to the Commission’s on-going efforts to inform
Congress and other government entities of the impact that proposed
actions could have on consumers.
The Division of Financial Practices
The Division of Financial Practices
is responsible for developing policy and enforcing laws related to
financial and lending practices affecting consumers. It also is responsible
for most of the agency’s consumer privacy program. Among its
specific areas of responsibility are:
Financial privacy, including enforcement of the Fair Credit Reporting
Act (FCRA) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley
Act (GLBA).
The FCRA ensures the accuracy and privacy of information
kept by credit bureaus and other consumer reporting agencies, and
gives consumers the right to know what information these entities
are distributing about them to creditors, insurance companies and
employers.
The
GLBA requires financial institutions to provide notice to consumers
about their information practices, and to give consumers an opportunity
to direct that their personal information not be shared with non-affiliated
third parties.
Subprime
lending, including enforcement of laws targeting deceptive, unfair
and abusive practices in the subprime market, such as the Federal
Trade Commission Act, the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act,
and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
Enforcement
of many of the nation’s other consumer credit statutes, including:
The Truth in Lending Act, which requires creditors
to disclose in writing certain cost information, such as the annual
percentage rate (APR), before consumers enter
into credit transactions.
The
Consumer Leasing Act, which requires lessors to give consumers information
on lease costs and terms.
The
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA),
which prohibits debt collectors from engaging in unfair, deceptive
or abusive practices, including over-charging, harassment and disclosing
consumers’ debt to third parties.
Federal Trade Commission
