The Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) Language Access Task Force and partner organizations sent a letter to the House Financial Services Committee in support for HR 3009, the Improving Language Access in Mortgage Servicing Act of 2021. LEP borrowers face many challenges that impede their full participation in the consumer marketplace, including, specifically, their ability to obtain and preserve ownership of a home. The Improving Language Access in Mortgage Servicing Act will make important strides in improving access to the mortgage market and increasing awareness of the availability of assistance for homeowners who are struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments, which is especially critical during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
AFREF, NCLC, and NHLP submitted detailed comments to the CFPB urging the Bureau to strengthen its make necessary improvements to its COVID loss mitigation proposal to protect the most vulnerable borrowers and strengthen protections against foreclosures.
AFR submitted a comment letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission urging the Commission not to approve any additional leveraged ETF based on the Chicago Board of Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index of the S&P 500 (“VIX”). The letter raises important concerns about not only the inherent dangers of leveraged ETFs that make them unsuitable investments
AFREF and 41 organizations sent comments in response to the CFPB’s proposed COVID loss mitigation rule urging the Bureau to make critical improvements to help avoid unnecessary foreclosures and to facilitate streamlined solutions for borrowers facing COVID-19 hardships that will make it possible for them to keep their homes and provide them with the stability they need to recover and rebuild.
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund wrote the Fed to express concerns over the blow-up of the Archegos family fund. This incident reveals both the dangers of excessive leverage at private funds, and the failure of banking regulators, including the Federal Reserve, to properly regulate bank interactions with such funds. To address these issues, the Federal Reserve must investigate its own regulatory failures in this case and publicly disclose the lessons learned from this investigation, and must also work with the Financial Stability Oversight Council to address the risks of excessive leverage at private funds.
AFREF joined a letter to the Department of Labor detailing ways to improve protections for retail investors.
