CFPB Archives - Page 24 of 82 - Americans for Financial Reform

Joint Statement: CFPB Payday Lending Rule Will Disrupt Abusive Lending, Protect Families

“At the heart of the rule is the common sense principle that lenders check a borrower’s ability to repay before lending money. While praising the CFPB for pushing to stop the debt trap, the coalition calls on the Bureau to build on this progress by quickly working to develop regulations to protect consumers from abusive long-term, high-cost loans. Also, strong state laws, such as rate caps, must continue to be defended and enacted.”

Public Testimony: Alexis Goldstein calls on ED Department to Reinstate MOUs with the CFPB

Today at a public hearing at the Department of Education, AFR’s senior policy analyst gave testimony about the need to reinstate the Memorandum of Understanding with the CFPB, ended by Secretary DeVos to widespread criticism.

Joint Letter: AFR and 16 groups urge “firm and assertive” action to guard consumers against credit-bureau abuses

“We write to express our grave concerns over [Equifax’s] slow response to the
breach and then its shifting, maddening, and ultimately inadequate response to consumers including
our members, clients and other constituencies. We write with several recommendations for what
Congress should and should not do in response.”

Joint Letter: Consumer Groups Applaud CFPB Review of Overdraft Fees, Oppose Senate Move Against Forced Arbitration Rule

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s review of unfair and abusive overdraft practices is complemented by its recent efforts to limit the use of forced arbitration, said five consumer groups in a joint letter sent today to Director Richard Cordray. U.S. Senate leadership is pushing for a vote this week on a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to repeal a CFPB rule that restores consumers’ right to join together in court against banks and lenders.

AFR in the News: Under cover of Graham-Cassidy, Senate GOP moving to gut major CFPB rule (Intercept)

“[E]xecutives for both Wells Fargo and Equifax… will testify in Senate committees next week. Both companies have used arbitration clauses in an attempt to deny consumers access to the courts… ‘This rush toward a vote in the Senate is a cynical attempt to roll back an important consumer protection before anyone gets straight answers from Equifax and Wells Fargo about the damage they’ve done to the financial lives of millions of Americans,’ said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform.”

AFR Statement: Stop Senate Rush to Roll Back Protection from Forced Arbitration

This rush toward a vote in the Senate is a cynical attempt to roll back an important consumer protection before anyone gets straight answers from Equifax and Wells Fargo about the damage they’ve done to the financial lives of millions of Americans.

Joint Statement: House Approves Special Protections for Payday Lenders

“The vote [came] during the debate over the Financial Services and General Government bill, which funds some basic functions of the federal government, including the Treasury Department… Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) introduced an amendment to take this language out of the appropriations bill and continue to allow the CFPB to regulate payday lenders as it regulates all financial services businesses. The amendment failed with four Republicans joining Ellison to protect borrowers and three Democrats choosing to side with payday predators.”

Letter to Regulator: AFR, 18 Organizations Call for Comprehensive Data on Small Business Lending

We call on the Bureau: to require reporting on the full breadth of small business lending; to capture important data about loans applied for and made; and to complete the rulemaking and begin collection of these data expeditiously.

AFR in the News: Before its massive data breach, Equifax fought to kill a rule allowing victims to sue (LA Times)

“The regulation, issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on July 10 and scheduled to go into effect in mid-January, came under attack by Republicans in Congress ‘before the ink was even dry,’ says Amanda Werner of Americans for Financial Reform, which is fighting to retain the rule… Consumer privacy advocates hope that the Equifax debacle will remind senators of the importance of the rule. ‘We need to look at how consumers are going to be able to hold these firms accountable,’ Werner says.”

AFR Statement: Equifax Data Breach Underscores Need to Curb Forced Arbitration

Congress should preserve CFPB’s rule curbing forced arbitration and abandon attempts to lighten regulation of credit bureaus in the wake of massive data breach at Equifax.