CONSUMERS DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY:
NCLR Delivers Petition Calling for a Strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Washington, DC—Fed-up consumers from throughout the nation got their message to Congress today when NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, delivered a petition to Senator Christopher Dodd (D–CT), Chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and members of the Senate with more than 1,200 signatures from the public.  The petition demands the creation of a true defender of average families in the form of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

“NCLR calls on the Senate to move beyond partisan politics to truly stand on the side of families,” said Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO.  “Like all Americans, Hispanic consumers rely on banking and credit products to move up the economic ladder.  We need a strong, independent agency to look after their interest in such transactions and hold financial institutions accountable.  Not doing so will only further the status quo, where hardworking families see their savings and income eaten up by unnecessary fees and traps laid in fine print.”

Big banks and credit card companies have shown us that they won’t police themselves.  Their deceptive tactics put millions of families in debt and at risk of losing their homes.  They ultimately helped usher in the worst recession since the Great Depression.  And the pain continues, as more than 2.3 million Latino and Black families will lose their homes to foreclosure between 2009 and 2012.

“Enough is enough.  I’ve seen too many of my friends and neighbors lose their homes and life savings because of the reckless tactics of big banks and Wall Street.  It’s time to crack down on the abuses and fraud that have left a path of destruction in neighborhoods across the country and especially in communities of color,” says the petition, signed by consumers from throughout the nation, including Renata Soto, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Conexión Américas, a community-based group from Nashville, Tennessee.

As negotiations move forward, NCLR strongly urges members of the Senate to approve a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency that:

• Operates as an independent agency that families can trust
• Writes, investigates, and enforces rules and regulations for all consumer transactions, including credit cards; home, auto, student, and payday loans; and loans brokered or originated by previously unregulated entities, such as auto dealers and mortgage finance companies
• Provides support for financial counseling and real-time advice for consumers to help them navigate the banking system