[Download PDF] July 24, 2012 The Honorable Jeff Merkley United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Merkley: We, the undersigned consumer and community organizations, write to support your legislation to protect consumers from high-risk lending on the internet and offline. The Stopping Abuse and
AFR, The Leadership Conference, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, U.S. PIRG, Public Citizen, and Consumer Federation of America. While this legislation is an improvement on earlier versions of the bill, it still represents a significant weakening of taxpayer protections created by the Dodd-Frank Act to prevent fraud, abuse, and deception in Wall Street financial dealings with municipalities.
AFR sent a letter of opposition to members of Congress regarding S. 3468, The Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act, which would give the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) jurisdiction over all independent agencies in the federal government, including all of the financial regulatory agencies.
AFR sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose H.R. 2446. This legislation will exempt payments related to homeowner warranties (also known as home service contracts) from the Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act’s ban on kickbacks and referral fees. We believe exempting payments related to these products from the ban on kickbacks and referral fees would be harmful to consumers.
AFR and CFA sent a letter endorsing S. 3416, a piece of legislation which would enable the SEC to impose more meaningful fines on those who violate the securities laws and perpetrate fraud.
AFR sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose H.R. 6139. This legislation would weaken consumer protection against financial abuses, undermine the authority of the CFPB over a huge swath of consumer financial products and services, and override state consumer protection laws through preemption.
AFR sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose H.R. 2827, This legislation would effectively eliminate new safeguards passed in the Dodd-Frank Act to protect taxpayers from financial exploitation. It must be rejected.
AFR sent a letter to the Hill urging members to oppose HR 5893. This legislation would significantly hamper ability of regulators to institute any new oversight on our largest banks, and it should be rejected.
AFR sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose H.R. 4323, which would weaken consumer protections and increase the amount of fees paid by families on their mortgages. This bill would also undermine the CFPB.
AFR sent the following letter to House Financial Services Committee members, expressing concerns about three proposed bills that would undermine transparency and accountability in the financial system.