Ocwen Seeks to Have CFPB Declared Unconstitutional

Ocwen Financial Corp. is responding to an enforcement action brought against it by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by filing two related motions for an early court ruling that would void the enforcement action while declaring the regulatory agency unconstitutional. Ocwen has also filed a separate motion asking the D.C. Court of Appeals to invite the Department of Justice to participate in the case.

 

In a statement issued by the West Palm Beach, Fla.-based company, Ocwen accused the CFPB of “filing a lawsuit without factual or legal merit, apparently in an effort to bolster its own political agenda.” It added that it “believes that the CFPB is unconstitutionally structured because it vests too much unfettered power in the hands of the CFPB’s Director and the Bureau itself, without any meaningful oversight by the President or Congress.”

 

Ocwen also defended its business performance, citing “the well-documented positive results from Ocwen’s borrower-assistance efforts,” including more than 735,000 loan modifications during the past years and 20 percent of all modifications under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program, the federal government’s leading modification program.

 

Neither the CFPB nor the Department of Justice offered an immediate response to Ocwen’s actions.

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