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Report: Former payday lender requested consideration for CFPB director role

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Report: Former payday lender requested consideration for CFPB director role

The former head of World Acceptance Corp. asked interim Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Mick Mulvaney to be considered for the permanent director role, even though the company had recently been under investigation, according to a March 6 report from The Associated Press.

World Acceptance's marketing and lending practices were investigated by the CFPB when the agency was headed by Richard Cordray, who left the bureau in November 2017. The agency closed the investigation Jan. 22 without issuing an enforcement action, and the same day the company announced that CEO Janet Matricciani resigned.

On Jan. 24, Matricciani sent an email to an address that appears to be Mulvaney's personal account, pitching herself as a candidate to lead the agency, the AP reported, citing a document obtained through left-leaning consumer advocacy group Allied Progress. The group received the email through a Freedom of Information Act request. Mulvaney forwarded her email to his government account, the report added.

In the email, Matricciani said she understood the "need to treat consumers respectfully and honestly" and "the equal need to offer credit to lower income consumers in order to help them manage their daily lives," according to the AP. She cited the CFPB's investigation as experience that qualifies her for the job, as she understands the effects of such an investigation on a company.

A senior adviser to Mulvaney told the AP that Matricciani is not being considered for any job at the agency. The newswire was unable to contact Matricciani. The CFPB has said its decision to drop the investigation into World Acceptance was not made by a political appointee.