A PHH spokesman in an email said the company will appeal. “We strongly disagree with the decision of the director. We believe this decision is inconsistent with the facts and is not in accord with well-settled legal principles and interpretations,” wrote Dico Akseraylian, senior vice president, corporate communications.“We believe our appeal will be successful and, as a result, are not adjusting our previously issued earnings guidance for this matter.”

PHH was represented by Weiner Brodsky Kider. Partner Michael Kider could not immediately be reached for comment.

PHH argued unsuccessfully that a three-year statute of limitations limited the bureau’s authority. Prior to the CFPB’s creation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development enforced the real estate settlement law and was bound by a three-year statute of limitations for actions it brought in court.

But if the CFPB doesn’t have to go to court, it has the option of bringing administrative cases. And Cordray wrote that the “section of the [Consumer Financial Protection Act] that authorizes the bureau to enforce laws through administrative proceedings does not contain a statute of limitations.”

Still, Cordray didn’t see the power as unlimited. He noted that the bureau took over for Housing and Urban Development on July 21, 2011. That meant HUD could have charged a company with a real estate settlement violation that occurred no more than three years earlier, on July 21, 2008. “If the bureau were to challenge violations that occurred prior to that date, this would be a retroactive application of the [Consumer Financial Protection Act] because it would ‘increase a party’s liability for past conduct,’ ” Cordray wrote.

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