Pub. 12 2017-2018 Issue 6

WWW.NEBANKERS.ORG 12 COUNSELOR’S CORNER THE END – STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS & THE CFPB Bryan Handlos, Kutak Rock LLP E VENBEFORE THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTIONBUREAU (CFPB) began operating under a newadministration and was set on a kinder, gentler approach to those it regu- lates, 2 efforts to rein in the agency were well under way. The constitutionality of the CFPB was challenged in PHH Corp. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Initially, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the CFPB was unconstitutional. After a rehearing, the full court ruled in January 2018 that the CFPB was not unconstitutional 3 (in the words of the movie, the CFPBwas not terminated “with extreme prejudice”). 4 This result may not sit well with those opposed to what they consider a rogue agency. There is, however, a signifi- cant consolation prize in the new decision. The court restored that portion of the earlier decision holding that the CFPB is subject to statutes of limitations and cannot pursue long-past violations of law without limit. 5 “He’s out there operating without any decent restraint . . .” —General Corman to Captain Willard in “Apocalypse Now.” 1