Tag Archives: COVID-19

Letters to Regulators: Letter to the CFPB Urging for Critical Improvements to a Proposed COVID Loss Mitigation Rule

AFREF and 41 organizations sent comments in response to the CFPB’s proposed COVID loss mitigation rule urging the Bureau to make critical improvements to help avoid unnecessary foreclosures and to facilitate streamlined solutions for borrowers facing COVID-19 hardships that will make it possible for them to keep their homes and provide them with the stability they need to recover and rebuild.

Joint Letter: Calling on SBA to release Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness data

AFR joined a letter to the Small Business Administration calling for the release of data pertaining to Paycheck Protection Program recipients’ loan forgiveness requests, which represents $194.5 billion of taxpayer money, most of which has already been forgiven. The letter urges the SBA to release the number of jobs borrowers supported with PPP funds, information on any pay reductions experienced by workers employed by borrowers, whether the borrower applied for or received a second draw PPP loan, among other important data points.

Letter to Regulators: Fill Vacant Inspector General positions

AFR joins a letter to the White House and the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), calling on President Biden to nominate individuals to fill the fourteen open inspector general positions by June 1, 2021. Inspectors general are a linchpin of government accountability yet fourteen of the seventy-four total offices of the inspectors general are vacant. The ongoing response to COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of using all available mechanisms within the federal government to ensure proper oversight and accountability of government programs.

Federal reserve board

Letters to Regulators: Letter in Response to the Federal Reserve Board’s ANPR on the Community Reinvestment Act

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund organized a letter to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) in response to their advanced notice of proposed rule making (ANPR) on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The letter outlined a number of guiding principles and approaches to ensure that any changes to the CRA framework would be limited to measures that will increase equity in bank investments and access to sustainable, wealth-building credit in underserved communities as the statute intended.

a gavel over a paper that says "arbitration hearing"

Letters to Congress: Letter in Support of the FAIR Act

AFR joined a letter strongly supporting the Force Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act (FAIR Act). The letter stated that the legislation would ensure that workers, consumers, servicemembers, nursing home residents, ordinary investors, and small businesses harmed by bad actors will be able to bring valid claims in court, and would not be forced into private, secretive, corporate-controlled arbitration systems required by nonnegotiable contracts. It argued for the particular need for Congress to move forward with this legislation in light of the economic hardship facing working families during the pandemic.

a series of houses

Letters to Congress: Letter Urging Congress to Provide Greater Assistance for Homeowners in COVID Relief Plan

AFR joined a letter urging Congress to expand assistance to homeowners in the upcoming COVID-19 relief package. The letter, which followed a previous letter to the Biden Administration urging for similar protections, requested that the upcoming COVID relief package include $25 billion for direct assistance to homeowners, with the bulk of the funds deployed through state housing finance agencies through the Homeowner Assistance Fund and including at least $100 million for housing counseling and $39.7 million for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program.

NEWS RELEASE: Advocates Applaud Senate Bill Fund to Help Millions of Families Keep Their Homes; Urge Inclusion in Covid Stimulus Bill

“Facing the most economic distress and illness, low-income families and communities of color are most at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure without relief. The Homeowner Assistance Fund is a necessary measure to stem the impending foreclosure crisis and prevent devastating losses for families and neighborhoods.”