I know where to go when this Commentary writing gig grows stale. Wanna make 30 clams an hour? Costco’s hiring! (Remember when lenders and originators were very nervous about Costco taking over home lending? Or was it Amazon?) I doubt if CFPB employees will be checking out the listings, and I received this note from Florida. “Rob, I have heard rumblings about ‘doing away’ with the CFPB, created from the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act voted into law by Congress in 2010. Everyone in our business should be against doing away with, or de-funding, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau entirely, as Ted Cruz’s proposed legislation would do, or Elon Musk’s beliefs. Do we, as lenders, want 50 different interpretations of LO comp plans? 50 different versions of what the consumer should understand when signing mortgage paperwork? 50 different states creating their own Ability to Repay laws? 50 different versions of servicing rules? What will that do to the cost of loans for lenders which are passed onto borrowers? (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by Optimal Blue. OB bridges the primary and secondary mortgage markets to deliver the industry’s only end-to-end capital markets platform, helping lenders maximize profitability and operate efficiently so they can help American borrowers achieve the dream of homeownership. Hear an interview with Optimal Blue’s Erin Wester on new products the company announced at Optimal Blue Summit in San Diego.)