AFR and Organizations Urge Members of Congress to Defend the CFPB
AFR and more than fifteen organizations submitted a letter to members of the House Financial Services Committee, calling on them to defend the CFPB from specific legislative attacks.
Tag Archives: CFPB
The House Financial Services Committee’s Latest Assault on the CFPB
Five-and-a-half years after the financial crisis, “the great majority of Americans still see a need for tougher regulation of Wall Street and the lending industry, and welcome the existence of a federal agency with a mandate to police rules of fair play in the consumer finance markets.
“At the House Financial Services Committee, however, a different view has taken hold. The big threat, many on that committee seem to believe, comes not from abusive practices in the financial industry, but from the agency that is beginning to do something about them.”
Five Years Down the Road, the CARD Act Is a Success Story
Consumer and civil rights advocates applaud the CARD Act’s success in saving Americans billions of dollars in predatory and excessive fees. By one estimate, the Act has saved consumers $12.6 billion; a recent report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau identifies nearly $4 billion annual savings in fees alone.
New from the CFPB: A Master List of Consumer Resources
In addition to taking consumer complaints (about mortgages, credit cards, student loans, bank accounts, credit reporting, auto loans, debt collection, payday loans, and money transfers, among other topics), the CFPB offers a variety of additional resources for consumers seeking to learn more about their rights in the financial system.
AFR Comments on CFPB Rule on Defining Larger Participants in the International Money Transfer Market
AFR submitted a comment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offering some suggestions on how to strengthen their proposed rule on defining “larger participants” in the international money transfer market. This proposed rule, if adopted, would be the fourth in a series of rulemakings to define ‘larger participants’ in various consumer financial product markets. AFR’s recommendations include expanding the criteria CFPB uses to define larger participants, and covering domestic as well as international money transfers under their supervisory purview.
AFR and More Than 100 Organizations Call on CFPB to Address Deceptive Payday Loan Market
AFR and more than 100 consumer, civil rights, labor and community organizations submitted a letter to the CFPB urging the Bureau to issue a strong rule to address unfair, deceptive or abusive practices in the payday and small dollar loan market.
AFR Calls for Strong Rules on Payday Lending
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s latest report on payday lending reaffirms what the Bureau’s initial research showed a year ago: these ultra-high-cost loans, while promoted as a form of emergency credit, consistently lead to a cycle of debt. Even after paying substantial fees, many borrowers end up “owing as much or more on their very last loan as the entire amount they had borrowed initially,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray pointed out.
AFR Opposes HR 2672 – Let the CFPB Do Its Job
AFR sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose HR 2672. If adopted, this amendment would effectively create a petition process that would allow individuals who reside or do business in a state to apply for the designation of an area as rural (an area that has not already been designated as such). Areas designated as rural would be able to circumvent certain mortgage provisions put in place by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
AFR Statement on House Approval of HR 3193
“Many millions of people have already benefited from the Consumer Bureau’s rules, enforcement actions and online complaint system. Polls show that a large majority of Americans strongly approve of what this important new agency has been doing… And yet, 232 members of the House of Representatives voted today for legislation designed to systematically undermine this first-ever federal agency with a mandate to prioritize fairness and transparency over short-term financial-industry profits.”
AFR and Consumer Organizations Call on CFPB to Address and Prevent Debt Collection Abuses
AFR and more than 15 consumer organizations submitted a letter to the CFPB calling for stronger obligations on debt collectors and creditors, including in particular requirements that they actually have and maintain accurate records of debts, and that they cannot collect without real documentation that people owe and how much, limits on contacts with borrowers, and an end to harassment threatening conduct, including manipulation of credit reporting.