Americans for Financial Reform

Report Category: Policy & Analysis

Fact Sheet: Private Equity-Owned Payday Lenders Profit Off Trapping People in Debt

Private equity has pushed into the high-priced consumer loan industry, offering payday and other consumer loans that profit off trapping borrowers in a cycle of debt. Private equity firms own over 5,000 storefront payday and online lenders that often make loans at 300% annual percentage rates (APR) and higher. You can find a link to

Joint Brief: AFR Joins Argument Urging Supreme Court to Support CFPB Structure

The amici submitting this brief are consumer organizations with an interest in the constitutional analysis that determines whether the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is consistent with separation-of-powers principles … The amici submitting this brief are consumer organizations with an interest in the constitutional analysis that determines whether the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is consistent with separation-of-powers principles …

AFR/CRL Poll: CFPB Debt Collection Proposal Faces Strong Bipartisan Opposition

In its proposed rule, CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger is sanctioning consumer harassment by allowing debt collectors to: call consumers seven times per debt, per week; send unlimited emails, texts, and social media messages without consumer consent; allow debt collectors to collect very old “zombie debts” where the time to sue has expired; and file baseless lawsuits by making it easier to sue the wrong consumer, for the wrong amount.

Legislation: Summary and Analysis of Stop Wall Street Looting Act

The Stop Wall Street Looting Act would curb the worst abuses of Wall Street private equity executives by making them liable for damage they cause, protecting the interests of workers, preventing looting of target companies, and improving transparency for investors.

Fact Sheet: Wall Street Private Equity Landlords Snapping Up Apartment Buildings

Private equity owns over a million U.S. apartment units. Tenants pay a price when corporate landlords buy their buildings. In some cases, private equity buyers have pushed out lower-income tenants – through rent hikes, eviction threats, and more – to flip buildings into high-rent properties to sell for big profits.