Data shows that consumers have become increasingly more careful with their debt, as the composite consumer credit default index dropped to a new post-recession low in April, according to the April 2016 S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices released on Tuesday. Out of the four indices that comprise the composite consumer credit default index—first mortgage, second mortgage, auto loans, and bank cards—the only one that increased over-the-month in April was bank cards.
The first mortgage default rate tumbled by 8 basis points over-the-month and by 14 basis points over-the-year down to zero point 69 percent. With consumers watching their debts more closely since the beginning of the crisis, they are also spending less of their disposable income on their mortgage debt—and saving at rates higher than during the years immediately before the crisis.
U.S. Representative Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, has introduced a new bill that proposes to change the mission of the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. H.R. 5211, known as the CFPB Dual Mandate and Economic Analysis Act and introduced by Emmer, would amend the CFPB’s mission to direct the Bureau’s focus to competition and consumer choice while at the same time continuing to focus on fairness and transparency.