This afternoon, the House Financial Service subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions will hold a hearing entitled, “Ending Debt Traps in the Payday and Small Dollar Credit Industry.”
AFR submitted the below statement to the Senate hearing on Guidance and Supervisory Expectations AFR Submission to Senate Banking Committee April 30th Hearing
Wall Street poured at least $1.9 billion into the political process, the largest-ever amount for a non-presidential year, according to a new report by Americans for Financial Reform. This sum outstrips the total of $1.4 billion, in the 2013-14 election cycle, by 36 percent.
The $1.9 billion Wall Street poured into American politics includes contributions to campaign committees and leadership PACs ($922 million) and lobbying expenditures ($957 million). The money backed a massive rush of pro-industry nominees and legislation over the last two years, at a time when the biggest banks made $100 billion in profits for the first time.
On April 29, 2019, AFR Education Fund and several coalition partners sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) about our concerns with the Office of Inspector General’s April 9, 2019 report regarding the servicing of mortgage loans eventually sold through
The nation’s megabanks are enjoying record profits. But they still aren’t sharing that wealth with their frontline workers. We know they can afford it: they got a $28 billion tax break from the Trump tax law, and they’re paying it to themselves and wealthy shareholders.
Unfortunately, while we believe it would be possible to adopt standards that meet investors’ reasonable expectations under the Commission’s chosen regulatory approach, the regulatory package as currently drafted does not achieve that goal.
On April 18, 2019, AFR’s Language Access Task Force and several organizations sent a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency in support of its efforts to improve language access for Limited English Proficient borrowers. View or download a pdf copy of the letter.
Wall Street private equity funds are continuing to snap up homes to pad their expanding portfolio of rental properties. Institutional investors own nearly a quarter million single-family rental homes. Wall Street landlords often hike rents, avoid repairs, gouge tenants with fees, and are more likely to evict tenants.
Americans for Financial Reform wrote to the California State Assembly in support of AB 376, the Student Borrower Bill of Rights. AB 376 would make California the first state in the nation to create a comprehensive set of rights for people holding student debt, by requiring student loan companies to treat borrowers fairly and giving borrowers the right to hold these companies accountable when they fail to meet basic servicing standards.