Tag Archives: CFPB

News Release: 35 Groups Call on Next Administration to Carry On Fight Against Junk Fees 

Today, 35 community, civil rights, consumer, and advocacy organizations called on  presidential candidates to confront junk fees as a part of any future economic agenda. As President Biden highlights the success of his crackdown on junk fees – especially credit card late fees – presidential candidates should promise to protect people from unfair, undisclosed fees. Junk fees cost families tens of billions yearly. They inhibit competition and hurt consumers, workers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs. Fighting them is immensely popular.

News Release: 100+ Groups Support the CFPB’s Removal of Medical Debt From Credit Reports

Today, over 100 consumer, civil rights, military, legal services, and community groups submitted comments in strong support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) proposed rule to ban medical debt from credit reports. The proposal would stop credit reporting companies from sharing medical debts with lenders and prohibit lenders from making lending decisions based on medical information. The proposed rule is part of the CFPB’s efforts to address the burden of medical debt and coercive credit reporting practices.

News Release: Treasury, FTC, and CFPB Announce Pivotal Interagency Effort to Promote Safer Solar Lending

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a critical interagency effort that aims to protect consumers from solar fraud and scams, clamp down on bad actors and practices in the industry, promote safe green lending that can benefit consumers and responsible solar businesses, and mitigate climate change. This move comes as more consumers are being marketed and offered loans and leases for green products and projects, due in part to new federal financial incentives that make them more affordable

News Release: Nearly 100 Groups Support the CFPB’s “Buy Now Pay Later” Proposal, Which Will Protect Consumers from Harmful Practices

Today, nearly 100 consumer advocacy, civil rights and community organizations and academics submitted a supportive comment on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Interpretive Rule. These groups strongly support the CFPB’s proposal, which simply clarifies that accounts used to access BNPL credit are credit cards that must comply with credit card rules governing disputes, errors, periodic statements and disclosures. Those protections will enhance the safety of BNPL credit and make it easier for consumers to manage their finances.

News Release: Hearing Highlights Arguments Against Capital One Takeover of Discover

Since Capital One announced plans to take over Discover, reasons to oppose the creation of this new megabank have only grown. As federal regulators convene a hearing today on this risky merger, they must face the key arguments, which public interest groups will make, against it: the merger would reduce competition in the already concentrated credit card industry, it poses risks to the stability of the financial system, it would raise network fees for merchants, and it does not deliver for communities.

In The News: US agency says apps that let workers access paychecks before payday are providing loans (AP)

Christine Zinner, policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform, said the paycheck advance products “are nothing more than workplace payday loans, with consumers (being) more easily preyed upon since the money is only a tap away on a cell phone.” “People can easily become trapped in a cycle of debt by re-borrowing, requesting advances 12 to 120 times each year, just to pay basic household expenses and make ends meet,” she said.

News Release: Much Needed Workplace Payday Loan Rule Will Help Curb Predatory Loan Practices

Today’s interpretative rule by the Consumer Financial Product Bureau on workplace payday loans (or the so-called Earned Wage Access products) will clearly label these products as loans, subjecting them to the laws, disclosures, and protections that consumers deserve if they choose products that are effectively high-cost loans. As a result of this proposal, companies offering these loans will have to follow basic rules such as the 55-year-old Truth in Lending Act to disclose the annual percentage rate of these loans.

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News Release: CFPB Proposed Rule Requiring Language Access in Mortgage Servicing Will Help Homeowners Avoid Foreclosure

The Language Access Task Force of Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of fair housing and civil rights organizations, applauds Wednesday’s announcement from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposing rules that would ensure that borrowers with limited English proficiency (LEP) have a meaningful opportunity to seek assistance from their mortgage companies in times of distress, helping them stay in their homes. The proposal, which includes additional improvements to the general hardship assistance process, follows a petition from the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) urging the Bureau to include language access in the mortgage rule.

In The News: Conservatives set the stage for another CFPB funding fight (The Hill)

Christine Zinner, senior consumer policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform, suggested that the financial services industry is “really scraping the bottom of the barrel” with the latest arguments. “Wall Street and predatory lenders will never give up trying to stop the CFPB,” she said in a statement. “An agency devoted to fighting such powerful interests will never be home free.”

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Statement: To the House Financial Services Committee Hearing On “The Semi-Annual Report of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection”

Americans for Financial Reform appreciates the opportunity to provide a Statement for the Record for the House Financial Services Committee Hearing on “The Semi-Annual Report of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.” In the thirteen years since its creation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has and continues to vigorously protect consumers, increase marketplace transparency, and end unfair business practices through impactful rulemakings and enforcement actions.