The development of a real-time, ubiquitous payment system is an especially complex, expensive undertaking. Because of the scale of the endeavor, and its potential to impact the American public as a whole, we firmly believe the Board is the appropriate entity to establish a universal 21st century payments system.
Coalition letter urging the Federal Reserve to build in strong consumer protections into the design of its new real-time payment system
AFR Ed Fund and thirty-three other organizations submitted the following comments in response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F).
On September 18, 2019, 43 organizations submitted a comment letter to the CFPB about the need for greater protections for Limited English Proficient (LEP) consumers in the debt collection process.
On September 10, 2019, 17 civil rights, consumer and housing advocacy organizations sent a letter to the CFPB addressing QM and urging the Bureau to take additional steps to preserve access to affordable homeownership with adequate consumer protections in place.
“HUD’s proposed rule makes it virtually impossible for a disparate impact claim to stand in court,” says Linda Jun, senior policy counsel for Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund. “By raising the threshold for disparate impact, the new rule creates a nearly unsurmountable bar for plaintiffs to prove discriminatory outcomes and makes it much easier for defendants to shield themselves from any responsibility for discrimination.”
Tomorrow marks one hundred fifty days since Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger committed to quickly filling the nation’s top student loan watchdog position—a role that has been vacant for almost a year. As student debt nears $1.6 trillion and predatory practices plague the market, the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF) are releasing a roundup of failures by the current CFPB Director to stand up for student loan borrowers.
New report revealing how in the last 10 years, a staggering 597,000 people working at retail companies owned by private equity firms and hedge funds have lost their jobs. An estimated additional 728,000 indirect jobs have been lost at suppliers and local businesses, meaning Wall Street’s gamble on retail has led to more than 1.3 million job losses in total.
On July 23, 2019, AFR Education Fund submitted a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opposing a proposal that would create exemptions that would permit U.S. banks – and international banks active in the U.S. market – to do large-scale derivatives dealing in the U.S. without being designated as derivatives dealers under Dodd-Frank Act rules.
AFR Ed Fund and six other organizations submitted these comments in response to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) on the FHA Single Family Loan Sale program. View or download pdf of the letter here.