The California Homeowners Bill of Rights was enacted in 2013 to provide protections for residential borrowers faced with the challenge of increasing residential foreclosures in California and to ensure borrowers are provided with available loss mitigation options. The DFPI will take the necessary actions to ensure mortgage loan servicers comply with the required homeowner protections.

On Feb. 22, Suzanne Martindale will join the DFPI as the department’s new Senior Deputy Commissioner of Consumer Financial Protection. She was appointed by Governor Newsom on Feb. 2.

With more than a decade of experience working collaboratively with various stakeholders on behalf of consumers, her leadership will guide DFPI efforts to register new companies, license debt collectors, and oversee a market monitoring and analytics arm that will ensure the Department is prepared to respond to evolving consumer trends as we stand up the new Consumer Financial Protection Division.

Ms. Martindale, of Oakland, has served as Senior Policy Counsel and Western States Legislative Manager at Consumer Reports since 2010. She has been a Lecturer in student loan law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law since 2019. She was a Pro Bono Attorney at East Bay Community Law Center’s Consumer Justice Clinic from 2015 to 2018, and is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Her vision will ensure the Department is working proactively to educate the most vulnerable in California, while also focusing on the rollout and implementation of the new law across new industries.

Ms. Martindale earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and a Master of Arts degree in humanities from the University of Chicago. This position requires Senate confirmation.