At a January 13 Brookings Institution event, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray delivered remarks on the current state of the mortgage market.Touting the recently enacted CFPB mortgage rules as evidence of progress in protecting consumers from abusive mortgage practices, Cordray noted several signs of the improving mortgage market, including rising demand from first-time homebuyers and falling foreclosure rates.

Cordray also outlined a new CFPB initiative called “Owning a Home,” which is “designed to empower consumers with the information they need to make good decisions and talk to lenders with confidence.” Cordray emphasized the CFPB’s desire to “change the culture of how consumers go about obtaining mortgages” from one of “getting a mortgage” to one of “shopping for a mortgage.” To that end, the Owning a Home initiative includes a variety of tools on the CFPB’s website designed to provide guidance to consumers concerning available mortgage loan options.

Cordary’s remarks echo the CFPB’s drumbeat concerning mortgage lending and servicing in recent years, insisting on a transparent and consumer-centered approach designed, as Cordray put it, to act as “new guardrails to prevent irresponsible lending long after memories of the crisis may have faded.”