Statements and Press Releases Archives - Page 49 of 85

AFR Statement: House appropriations bill would “use backdoor means to achieve unpopular ends”

“In what has almost become an annual ritual, the 2017 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill set for mark-up in the House of Representatives today is packed with policy riders that would loosen rules, weaken agencies charged with protecting the public interest, and make it easier for Wall Street banks, shadow banks, and predatory lenders to take advantage of consumers and investors.”

AFR Statement: DOL retirement investment rule deserves Senate backing, not blocking

The Senate will vote today on a resolution to disapprove the Department of Labor’s rule requiring retirement advisers to put their clients’ best interests first. The principal sponsors of the Senate resolution – Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Mike Enzi of Wyoming

AFR Statement: Appeals court reopens the door to justice in LIBOR rate rigging

“Despite admissions of wrongdoing by major banks, the many victims of this fraud – from governments to pension funds to smaller banks – have yet to be compensated for their losses. With today’s ruling, they have a better chance to recover the money wrongfully taken from them by a group of the world’s largest banks.”

AFR Statement: Study of car-title loans underscores need for payday rules

“Car-title loans, like payday loans, are often marketed as a source of short-term emergency credit; but they’re engineered, the CFPB’s research showed, to suck people into high-cost long-term debt. Only 12 percent of borrowers manage to repay their loans within the typical prescribed term of 30 days, according to the study, while fully 20 percent of borrowers end up losing their vehicles. The average borrower pays more in fees ($1,300) than the amount borrowed ($1,000).”

AFR Statement: Google sets an important example on payday loan ads

“To its considerable credit, Google has decided to stop running search ads for debt-trap payday loans. This decision, which follows a similar announcement by Facebook last year, closes off an important avenue of customer recruitment for an industry that is doing more and more of its business online. Payday loans, whether made through physical or virtual storefronts, are engineered to suck people into long-term triple-digit-interest debt, making their financial problems worse, not better.”

AFR Statement: A Major Step Toward Financial Industry Accountability

“’These clauses rob people not only of their constitutional right to go to court, but of the right to band together with others who have been damaged by the same corporate misconduct,’ said Lisa Donner, Executive Director of Americans for Financial Reform. ‘Each victim is compelled to go it alone, even if the cost of taking action far exceeds the damages in any individual case. Because the process often bars the parties from going public with their stories, forced arbitration serves as a way for companies to keep evidence of wrongdoing under wraps.'”

Joint Statement: Consumer Advocates Applaud CFPB Arbitration Proposal

“Consumer advocates commend the CFPB for taking this crucial step to limit big banks’ and other financial companies’ efforts to escape accountability for breaking the law, and urge the agency to use the full force of its authority to restore consumers’ right to choose how to resolve disputes with financial institutions in this, and every, context in the final rule.”

Joint Letter: AFR, 163 Groups Call for Strong CFPB Action Against Forced Arbitration

“Yesterday, 164 organizations that advocate on behalf of consumers, students, civil rights, labor, small business, and more, sent a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), urging the agency to use its Congressional authority to restrict forced arbitration – the abusive practice in which corporations bury “ripoff clauses” in the fine print of take-it-or-leave-it contracts to block consumers from challenging hidden fees, fraud, and other illegal behavior in court.”

AFR Statement: Online and Storefront Payday Lenders are More Alike than Different, CFPB Report Shows

“About half of all online payday loan customers end up paying fees ($185 is the average amount) triggered by failed debit attempts. Some lenders keep on trying to collect in even when there is likely to be no effect other than to increase the cost to the borrower. Some companies will even break a payment into multiple smaller amounts, submitting three $100 requests, for example, instead of one $300 request. A third of the customers hit with such penalties end up having their bank accounts closed involuntarily.”

AFR Statement: AFR Statement on FHFA Announcement on Distressed Mortgages

“AFR welcomes FHFA’s announcement that it will take additional steps to limit the negative effects of underwater mortgages on homeowners and their communities. Principal reduction on underwater mortgages has been a priority for AFR and many of our members, and we have long urged FHFA to adopt this position. “