“…we write to convey our strong opposition to the “Supporting Academic Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act” (HR 970, S 559). In particular, we oppose these bills because they repeal the gainful employment regulation and create new loopholes in the federal ban on incentive compensation, harming both students and taxpayers.”
“…we are writing in strong opposition to the addition of language to H.R. 1195 that would pay for new procedural requirements on the CFPB by cutting or capping its budget, thereby reducing its ability to carry out its important consumer protection mission.”
“…we are writing in strong opposition to the addition of language to H.R. 1195 that would pay for new procedural requirements on the CFPB by cutting or capping its budget, thereby reducing its ability to carry out its important consumer protection mission.”
“We are writing to urge your opposition to the following series of bills, which are expected to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives the week of April 13th. Many of these bills would undercut important protections on mortgages, and re-open the door to higher fees and other practices that contributed to the devastating housing crisis. Others would undermine or put barriers in front of the important work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and are part of a strategy to weaken the CFPB and disrupt the good work the Bureau is doing preventing financial tricks and traps.”
AFR sent a letter to members of the House Financial Services Committee, urging them to oppose a number of the bills being included in today’s markup. The bills opposed by AFR would undermine the CFPB and help return us to an environment of predatory lending, irresponsible underwriting, and excessive fees that paved the way for our recent devastating housing crisis.
AFR and seven organizations sent a letter to Senators urging opposition to oppose Senator Inhofe’s amendment 384 to the budget resolution, which would restrict the Department of Justice’s Operation Choke Point or bank regulator efforts to prevent money laundering for terrorists and drug dealers. Operation Choke Point is focused only on banks that help scammers and other illegal activity, and Congress should not hinder these critical activities.
AFR joined 80 organizations in support of Senator Durbin’s ‘Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Rates’ Act. This bill, introduced to Congress on March 24th, caps interest rates and fees to 36% for all consumer credit transactions, putting an end to abusive lending that can top 300% and dig borrowers into a cycle of debt.
AFR’s Policy Director, Marcus Stanley, testified before the Senate Banking Committee regarding capital formation and reducing small business burdens.
“This bill will unnecessarily raise the cost of mortgages for millions of prospective homebuyers by allowing some of the higher fees borrowers faced in the lead up to the mortgage crisis… H.R. 685 would allow high-cost loans to qualify as QM loans by creating exceptions to the points and fees threshold. These exceptions would exclude fees paid to certain title companies affiliated with the lender. The points and fees definition is designed to include all compensation received by the lender. It is a reasonable standard that provides basic protections for homebuyers.”
AFR sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose HR 1309, the “Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act of 2015.” This legislation would make major deregulatory changes in Dodd-Frank directives concerning the oversight of some of the largest banks in the country. It would make it harder for regulators to take action to manage dangers to financial stability, and make it easier for individual large banks to use special pleading to escape from oversight.