“We got organized… We started getting groups like – God bless ‘em – AARP, Consumer Union, the AFL-CIO, the NAACP, LaRaza… More than a hundred groups got organized into Americans for Financial Reform. They pushed, and we got that consumer agency passed into law.” – Senator Elizabeth Warren, describing the struggle to establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“We are writing to urge your opposition to the following series of bills, which are expected to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives the week of April 13th. Many of these bills would undercut important protections on mortgages, and re-open the door to higher fees and other practices that contributed to the devastating housing crisis. Others would undermine or put barriers in front of the important work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and are part of a strategy to weaken the CFPB and disrupt the good work the Bureau is doing preventing financial tricks and traps.”
“Call it the Elizabeth Warren effect. The Massachusetts Democratic senator’s anti-Wall Street crusade may help explain a small but noticeable drop in support for big banks among Democrats on Capitol Hill. The decline turns up in an analysis of voting patterns during the 113th Congress soon to be released by Americans for Financial Reform, an advocacy group that promotes Wall Street accountability.”
AFR provided comments to the Federal Reserve on a proposal to require more capital for the largest banks. While supporting the idea of additional capital for these banks, AFR’s comment criticized the level as too low.
AFR submitted a comment letter to the Financial Stability Oversight Council supporting the FSOC’s engagement in asset management activities.
“First, for a loan to be fair, the borrower must have the ability to repay… Second, the Bureau has recognized that this crucial principle… must apply to a sufficiently broad range of small-dollar loans, and not just to a narrowly defined set of payday or car- title loans. Otherwise, abusive lenders will do what they have done in many of the states that have tried to crack down on such abuses: find ways to evade the rules without giving up their basic debt-trap approach.”
At a CFPB hearing in Richmond, Va., AFR delivered a letter in which a remarkable array of civil rights, faith, economic justice, elder, community and civic organizations – 500 altogether, including groups from all 50 states – applaud the CFPB for its commitment to this issue and urge it to develop and implement regulations that finally put payday, car-title and other small-dollar lenders “on the same footing as other lenders, requiring them to play by the rules and make fair loans.”
“The push for a Wall Street transaction tax continues to gain traction in Washington. In a fresh show of support , a majority of the Democratic members of the House of Representatives voted today for the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s “People’s Budget,” which includes a transaction tax. The 96 votes cast in favor of the CPC budget are 8 more votes than a similar proposal received last year.”
AFR sent a letter to members of the House Financial Services Committee, urging them to oppose a number of the bills being included in today’s markup. The bills opposed by AFR would undermine the CFPB and help return us to an environment of predatory lending, irresponsible underwriting, and excessive fees that paved the way for our recent devastating housing crisis.
AFR and seven organizations sent a letter to Senators urging opposition to oppose Senator Inhofe’s amendment 384 to the budget resolution, which would restrict the Department of Justice’s Operation Choke Point or bank regulator efforts to prevent money laundering for terrorists and drug dealers. Operation Choke Point is focused only on banks that help scammers and other illegal activity, and Congress should not hinder these critical activities.