Washington, D.C. — In response to a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau advisory opinion on protecting Americans from pay-to-play schemes on digital mortgage comparison-shopping platforms, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“American homebuyers should be able to compare mortgages online without digital comparison platforms coercing them into using lenders that pay the platforms kickbacks,” said Morgan Harper, Director of Policy & Advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project. “The CFPB’s advisory opinion makes clear that platforms engaging in these blatant conflicts of interest are breaking the law. Especially as mortgage rates rise, American homebuyers should have access to accurate information.”

CFPB advisory opinions provide written guidance to help firms and corporations navigate their existing legal and regulatory obligations. This advisory opinion clarifies that mortgage comparison-shopping platforms preferencing information from lenders that pay them kickbacks and in which they hold a financial interest are violating the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). By clarifying that such practices are illegal, the CFPB is preserving competition in the mortgage lending business and making sure potential homebuyers get full information to shop for the best deal.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here. 

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.