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lead to good public policy. CUNA continues to
support a five-person commission for the CFPB
instead of its current structure."
PHH had originally been fined $6.4 million
by an administrative law judge in November
2014 for accepting kickbacks in the form of
reinsurance premiums paid to a PHH subsidiary
by mortgage insurers, a violation of the Real
Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).
e administrative law judge ruled that PHH
was responsible only for payments accepted on
mortgage loans that closed on or after July 21,
2008; Cordray expanded that penalty to $109
million in June 2015, saying that PHH was in
violation of RESPA for every kickback payment
the company accepted after July 21, 2008 even, if
the loans closed before that date.
PHH immediately appealed the decision and
the arguments were heard in the D.C. Court
of Appeals in April 2016. PHH's petition with
the court stated: "Never before has so much
authority been consolidated in the hands of one
individual shielded from the president's control
and Congress's power of the purse." is, PHH
claimed, put the CFPB director's power and
tenure at odds with the U.S. Supreme Court's
Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board decision from 2010.
CFPB defended itself and the $109 million
disgorgement in a filing with the D.C. Circuit
Court, claiming the penalty was a "small
fraction" of the kickbacks and that the $109
million was merely money that the company
should have never received to begin with, and
therefore in essence not a penalty.
