WASHINGTON–Credit unions and other interested parties have until June 12 to file comments on a proposal that would rescind the Feb. 22, 2022, and March 29, 2023, amendments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) rules of practice for adjudication proceedings, including those transferring authority over dispositive motions from the hearing officer to the agency’s director.

In a notice published in the Federal Register, the CFPB said the February 2022 and March 2023 rule changes “expanded parties’ opportunities to conduct depositions in adjudication proceedings and made amendments concerning timing and deadlines, the content of answers, the scheduling conference, bifurcation of proceedings, the process for deciding dispositive motions, and requirements for issue exhaustion, as well as other technical changes.”

‘Particular Concerns’

According to the CFPB Notice, the Bureau has “particular concerns” related to dispositive motions, as the revisions transferred authority to decide dispositive motions from the hearing officer who is presiding to the bureau’s director. 

The CFPB noted that as revised, the rules provide that “a party must file a dispositive motion with the Director, and the Director has the option of either deciding the motion or referring it to the hearing officer. This approach is atypical in the Executive Branch, where the norm is for hearing officers to decide dispositive motions …:

The CFPB further noted that earlier commenters has been critical of the change for concentrating authority in the bureau director “at the expense of the hearing officer.”

‘Largely Unnecessary’

“With respect to other changes made by the amendments, the Bureau’s preliminary view subject to considering comments is that they were largely unnecessary,” it states.

The notice says the CFPB proposes to repeal the amendments in full and seeks comment on that proposal.