Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund submitted a comment in support of the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed 6(b) study of large-scale single family home investors and the Commission’s plan to publicly disseminate information about homes owned by “mega investors,” defined as entities that own over 1,000 single family rental homes.
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
Today over 90 organizations and individuals, representing patients, workers, communities; public interest advocates, and health care researchers, called on federal authorities, as part of their review of competition in health care, to take action to curb the abuses of private equity and safeguard the ability of doctors to deliver quality care to all patients and achieve equitable health outcomes.
AFREF submitted a comment supporting the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed rule to require complex companies including private equity firms to disclose more information about their holdings and business lines when pursuing mergers and acquisitions.
AFREF joined a letter led by the Open Markets Institute and supported by 50 labor and public interest groups urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to ban non-compete clauses as well as functionally equivalent restraints such as training repayment agreement provisions (or TRAPs), for all workers.
AFREF and partners led a letter to the FTC urging it to use its rulemaking authority to protect American consumers from junk fees and put money back into our pockets. Millions of consumers have expressed outrage at the imposition of service fees for live event tickets, “amenity” or “resort” fees charged by hotels, endless surprise rental car fees, hidden internet and cell phone charges, junk fees in the financial sector, and more. The federal government has taken a holistic approach to this problem, including the White House Competition Council, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Department of Transportation (DOT) and now the FTC.
AFR joined a letter to the FTC in response to their Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on auto financing.
In much of America, owning a car is necessary to participate in the economy, and to live a full and vibrant life. However, this ticket to opportunity comes at an increasingly steep price – as of 2021, Americans owe $1.42 trillion in auto loan debt.
AFR joined a letter to Congress in support of S. 4145, the Consumer Protection Remedies Act of 2022. This bill would restore the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) authority to stop misconduct in the marketplace, and critically, to provide timely refunds and equitable relief to victims of consumer fraud and deception.
AFREF, joined by the Center for Economic Policy and Research and United for Respect, sent a comment letter responding to the FTC and DOJ’s request for information on merger enforcement. The letter calls on the agencies to to closely scrutinize and create presumptions to challenge acquisitions that employ leveraged buyouts and techniques like it.