Category Archives: Statements and Press Releases

Joint Statement: Advocates to FHFA; Must Help Ensure Fair Treatment for All Borrowers, Especially Limited English Proficient Borrowers, During the Coronavirus Epidemic

The National Consumer Law Center, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, the National Fair Housing Alliance and 33 other consumer, civil rights, and housing counseling groups sent a letter today calling on the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) to step up its efforts to translate key mortgage notices needed by borrowers hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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