MBA, Trade Groups Urge Senate Confirmation of Bureau Nominee Kraninger

The Mortgage Bankers Association and nearly two dozen industry trade and consumer organizations asked the Senate to approve Kathy Kraninger’s nomination as director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

Kraninger, currently an official in the Office of Management and Budget, was nominated in June by the Trump Administration to replace Acting Bureau Director Mick Mulvaney. Although the Senate Banking Committee approved her nomination on party lines, Kraninger has remained in limbo pending a backlog of Administration nominations before the Senate.

With a short lame-duck session of the 115th Congress slated post-2018 elections, MBA and the trade groups urged the Senate to move forward with Kraninger’s nomination before adjournment.

“Our organizations believe Ms. Kraninger has the ability to lead and manage a large government agency, like the Bureau, which is tasked to ensure consumers’ financial interests are protected,” the letter said. “We believe she will also fulfill the equally important role of ensuring businesses have the necessary compliance support to further those interests.”

The letter stressed that the Bureau must improve its examination, enforcement, rulemaking and guidance processes to assist with regulatory compliance and bring certainty in the marketplace. “Ms. Kraninger’s previous positions in government demonstrate her approach to managing an agency that has significant impact on the daily lives of Americans and the entire U.S. economy,” it said. “As evidenced during the Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing, Ms. Kraninger’s testimony conveyed a commitment to such actions along with a thoughtful review of the law for corresponding administrative actions.”

Joining MBA in the letter: the American Escrow Association; America’s Homeowner Alliance; the Asian Real Estate Association of America; Community Home Lenders of America; Community Mortgage Lenders of America; the Consumer Mortgage Coalition ; the Council for Affordable and Rural Housing; the Housing Policy Council; the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform; the Manufactured Housing Institute; the National Apartment Association; the National Association of Home Builders; the National Association of Housing Cooperatives; the National Association of Realtors; the National Leased Housing Association; the National Multifamily Housing Council; the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association; Real Estate Services Providers Council Inc.; The Realty Alliance; Up for Growth Action; and U.S. Mortgage Insurers.