The CFPB has published a notice stating that as part of its Owning a Home project, it plans to seek approval from the Office of Management and Budget to conduct a field study of the project. The project consists of a various online tools and resources developed by the CFPB to help consumers make decisions about mortgages. Comments are due by November 25, 2014.
According to the CFPB, the purpose of the field study is to evaluate and improve its Owning a Home project. Among the issues as to which the CFPB seeks to gain insight through the study are whether and how the project impacts consumers and which consumer segments or profiles benefit most from the project. To conduct the field study, the CFPB plans to recruit prospective homebuyers and assign them to one of two study groups: those exposed to the project (treatment group) and those not exposed (control group). The CFPB then plans to survey both groups as they go through the mortgage shopping process, track the treatment group’s usage of Owning a Home tools and resources, and compare the two groups’ attitudes, behaviors and outcomes.
