Americans for Financial Reform

Statement: The Education Department must ensure all borrowers benefit from the suspension

While it’s encouraging to see the Department act to protect over one million defaulted borrowers from seized tax refunds and wage garnishment, they must not leave behind the 5.5 million commercial FFEL borrowers who aren’t in default. An estimated 9 million borrowers total have been left out of the federal student loan suspension through no fault of their own. There is bipartisan support for ensuring no federal student loan borrowers areunfairly left behind; the Department must use its authority to protect all federal student loan borrowers.

Statement: Oversight and the one-year anniversary of the CARES Act

On the one-year anniversary of the CARES Act, AFR calls for more oversight in future COVID recovery legislation along with Public Citizen and POGO, to advance a more equitable recovery.

Statement: The Education Department must automatically cancel debt for borrowers eligible for disability discharges

The Department of Education’s actions today halt harms to borrowers that should never have happened. The Department must act next to affirmatively improve borrowers’ realities. The Trump administration, through executive action, made Total and Permanent Disability discharges automatically available to eligible veterans unless they opted-out. The Biden Administration must similarly act to make TPD discharges automatic for the estimated 400,000 borrowers eligible for relief who have not yet received it.

Letter to Regulators: Fill Vacant Inspector General positions

AFR joins a letter to the White House and the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), calling on President Biden to nominate individuals to fill the fourteen open inspector general positions by June 1, 2021. Inspectors general are a linchpin of government accountability yet fourteen of the seventy-four total offices of the inspectors general are vacant. The ongoing response to COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of using all available mechanisms within the federal government to ensure proper oversight and accountability of government programs.

News Release: Congress Must Pass Resolution to Rescind “Fake Lender” Rule that Facilitates Predatory Lending

AFR joins 338 groups representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia called for Congress to support a resolution to overturn rule that fosters loans with triple-digit interest rates that evade state and voter-approved interest rate caps

Letters to Regulators: Letter to the CFPB Re: Renewed Request to Rescind Language in April 1, 2020 CFPB Guidance Allowing CRAs and Furnishers to Exceed FCRA Deadlines for Disputes

AFREF joined our partners in sending a follow-up letter calling on the CFPB to rescind its April 1, 2020 guidance allowing consumer reporting agencies and furnishers to exceed the dispute investigation deadlines under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In the six months since we sent our last letter, the situation has only gotten worse, with nearly 26,000 more complaints submitted by consumers about delayed or nonexistent responses to credit/consumer reporting disputes. We urged the Bureau to revoke the guidance as soon as possible to prevent further consumer harm.

Policy Recommendations: AFR Housing Priorities for 2021

AFR released housing policy recommendations to promote equitable housing access for all people in the United States, minimize pervasive harm from the COVID-19 pandemic, hold predatory actors accountable, and expand sustainable opportunities in communities of color.

News Release: Supreme Court Should Not Roll Back Investor Rights and Unleash Corporate Misconduct

WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 24, 2021 – New concerns are being expressed today by a wide-ranging group of organizations and experts who are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the rights and protection of investors against corporate misconduct. In a sign-on statement from 38 groups and individuals the authors warn the pending case “has potentially far-reaching and devastating implications” for investors and market integrity

Joint Letter: Sign-On Letter Highlighting Critical Shareholder Rights at Stake in Goldman Sachs Supreme Court Case

AFREF joined a sign on letter highlighting critical shareholder rights at stake in the Goldman Sachs Supreme Court Case.

Letters to Congress: AFR Joins Over 300 Organizations From All 50 States to Support CRA Challenge to OCC “Fake Lender” Predatory Lending Rule

AFR joined allies across the country to support the Congressional Review Act challenge to the OCC’s final rule, “National Banks and Federal Savings Associations as Lenders,” which would unleash predatory lending in all fifty states by preempting states’ interest rate caps.