[Springfield, MO] – Local advocates and consumers gathered outside Advance America, 1773 S Glenstone today, Wednesday, March 17, to protest financial abuses by payday loan companies. Advance America is the nation’s largest payday lender and is actively opposing reform of its industry. As the Senate takes up
National People’s Action released the 2009 Chicago Foreclosure report with Senator Durbin yesterday. The report, written by NPA Research Analyst Nick Bianchi, shows that 2009 was the worst year ever for foreclosures in Chicago, with the crisis deepening in middle class communities. The report speaks
Fight Club fans take note! AFR Executive Director Heather Booth wrote up the rules of real financial reform for the Huffington Post. Here are first few: The first rule of real financial reform is that you can’t stop fighting for it. The second rule of
Our friends at the National Consumer Law Center have put together a great two-page report on the dire need for federal regulation of non-bank lenders. The report focuses on the problems created by the current lack of regulation of debt collectors and debt buyers, credit
Columnist Jeff Gelles recently wrote this piece about the importance of creating an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). He focuses on the way current regulators, specifically the OCC, failed to do anything to effectively protect consumers. He speaks of one man’s trouble with abusive
Sign our latest petition to hold big banks accountable! Urge your Senators to support financial reform and the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Write to your Senators today and ask them to resist the Wall Street lobbyists, and stand up for the rest of us. As
Jonathan Mann sings this funny and informative song about the “Robin Hood Tax,” also known as the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT).
The New York Times recently posted this editorial about the connection between Greece’s financial problems and Wall Street and the need for better regulation of derivatives trading. As Greece has tottered on the brink of fiscal chaos, threatening to drag much of Europe down with
A recent editorial in the New York Times talked about new steps that President Obama has authorized to deal with the needs of homeowners dealing with foreclosures, especially unemployed homeowners and those with underwater mortgages. However, there are still problems with the government’s plans, as
The Hill recently published this Opinion piece from business owner Lya Sorano about the way that a Consumer Financial Protection Agency would help small businesses. She says: The Chamber of Commerce and the bank lobbyists have falsely represented the interests of small businesses particularly aggressively