Statements and Press Releases Archives - Americans for Financial Reform

News Release: Further Action Needed to Protect People from Coronavirus Fallout

Corporate and Wall Street titans have used the coronavirus crisis to grab windfalls as a price for putting desperately needed resources into health care and helping people facing acute distress after losing jobs and income. The Trump administration and too many members of Congress actively promoted this terribly unbalanced approach to a public health emergency. The federal government – Congress and the executive branch – must move swiftly beyond what is in this legislation to help struggling people, families and communities in a just and inclusive manner. More needs to be done to respond to this crisis.

Joint Statement: “Emergency” Government Action Allows Bank Payday Loans

Today, under the cover of a national crisis, five federal bank regulators issued small dollar bank lending guidance that lacks the consumer protections needed to ensure loans do not trap borrowers in a cycle of debt.

Joint Statement: Advocates to HUD, Must Do Much More to Protect Older Reverse Mortgage Borrowers in the Coronavirus Epidemic

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 24, 2020 National Consumer Law Center Contacts: Sarah Bolling Mancini (smancini@nclc.org), Odette Williamson (owilliamson@nclc.org), or Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) Advocates: HUD Must Do Much More to Protect Older Reverse Mortgage Borrowers in the Coronavirus Epidemic The National Consumer Law Center, Americans for

Photo by CDC on Unsplash of the COVID19 virus

Policy Recommendations: AFR Education Fund Financial Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic requires an aggressive economic response that creates the best possible conditions to preserve public health and helps individuals, families, and communities weather the disruptions that efforts to contain the pandemic require.

News Release: Supreme Court should uphold CFPB structure to protect consumers

The U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hear oral arguments on Tuesday, March 3, on Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The case is about whether the authority of this independent agency, led by a single director who can be removed only for cause, violates the separation of powers.

News Release: CFPB Fails to Protect Consumers from Abusive Collection of Time-Barred Debt (Again)

The supplemental rule states that debt collectors must provide consumers with specific disclosures when collecting debt that is beyond the statute of limitations (time-barred debt). The proposed disclosures would be in addition to the CFPB’s proposal announced in May to prohibit collectors from filing or threatening a lawsuit on a time-barred debt, but only if the collector “knows or should know” that the legal time limit to sue has expired.

News Release: Internet, Federal Authorities Must Seek Answers Before Any Sale of Dot-Org

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and the Electronic Frontier Foundation said the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which coordinates the operation and maintenance of the internet’s domain name system, should make sure that the transaction will “not imperil the future operation of .ORG” before allowing it to proceed.

News Release: AFR Applauds House Passage of Comprehensive CREDIT Act

Yesterday, the House passed the Comprehensive Credit Reporting Enhancement, Disclosure, Innovation, and Transparency Act of 2020 (Comprehensive CREDIT Act), H.R. 3621, in a 221-189 vote.

Joint Letter: OCC Proposal Could Greenlight Predatory Lending Schemes

A coalition of more than 100 organizations yesterday submitted a public comment in opposition to a proposed rule from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) that would make it easier for payday and other high-cost lenders to use banks as a fig leaf to offer predatory loans at interest rates of 100 percent APR or higher that are prohibited under state rate cap laws.

a corporate boad room full of empty chairs - Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash

News Release: Statement from Diverse Coalition on Proposed Changes to Community Reinvestment Act

The proposed rules weaken a compliance system that needs to be strengthened, introduce new loopholes and add confusion and inconsistency, all while failing to address the real changes needed to modernize CRA to respond to changes in our country’s demographics and changes in the structure of the banking industry.