CFPB Likes Social Media Commentary

As it gears up for a formal operations launch in July, the controversial ""Consumer Financial Protection Bureau"":http://www.consumerfinance.gov/ (CFPB) continues to accept comments from the public on the ""Know Before You Owe"":http://www.consumerfinance.gov/knowbeforeyouowe/ mortgage disclosure program, which it opened to commentary in May.

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But there is something else unusual and much less controversial about the commentary period. The ""CFPB"":http://www.consumerfinance.gov/ by logging into their social media accounts and literally comment about the rule online.

This is a new twist for the usually dry public commentary period, a rule-making requirement under such voluminous laws as the Administrative Procedures Act and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act that allows for hundreds of pages from civil society that ultimately enter the public record.

According to ""_The North Bay Business Journal_"":http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/35925/federal-agency-asking-public-for-comment-on-real-estate-disclosures/?tc=ar, members of the public can publish commentary on proposed rules, definitions, and guidance material by visiting the ""CFPB"":www.consumerfinance.gov at ""www.consumerfinance.gov"":http://www.consumerfinance.gov/.

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The ""CFPB"":www.consumerfinance.gov lists several ways to participate and follow its updates, including ""Facebook"":http://www.facebook.com/, ""Twitter"":http://twitter.com/, and the bureau's ""blog"":http://www.consumerfinance.gov/blog/.

""They are allowing consumers to come up with comments saying what they would like to see in these forms,"" said Rachel Dollar, a partner at ""Smith Dollar"":http://www.smithdollar.com/, a financial services firm, according to ""_The Journal_"":http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/35925/federal-agency-asking-public-for-comment-on-real-estate-disclosures/?tc=ar.

Dollar said the ""CFPB"":www.consumerfinance.gov is ""likely to get a lot of people in finance going [to] the site,"" suggesting that random consumers would take less interest in the public commentary process.

According to ""_The Journal_"":http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/35925/federal-agency-asking-public-for-comment-on-real-estate-disclosures/?tc=ar, ""CFPB's"":www.consumerfinance.gov ""Know Before You Owe"":http://www.consumerfinance.gov/knowbeforeyouowe/ blog received over 78,845 visits, half of which came from 35,168 visitors that had never clicked on the site.

A senior spokesperson for the ""CFPB"":www.consumerfinance.gov could not be immediately reached for comment.

Bob Davis, EVP for mortgage markets and public policy at the ""American Bankers Association"":http://www.aba.com/default.htm, said that hundreds of people plan to submit voluminous comment letters to the ""CFPB"":www.consumerfinance.gov, and that each comment letter averages around 100 pages, maybe more.

In speaking with _The MReport_, Davis referred to a ""larger participants"" definition under review that the ""CFPB"":www.consumerfinance.gov plans to write and include as part of a nonbank supervision rule due for finalization in 2012.

Once the public commentary ends, the ""CFPB"":www.consumerfinance.gov will consult with other federal agencies and determine which modifications to make.