We support reforms to the financial marketplace to curb bad practices by banks and lenders.
legislation
Letter from JP Morgan Chase to CU on its debit card fee test program
October 24, 2011 Norma P. Garcia Senior Attorney Manager, Financial Services Program Consumers Union West Coast Office 1535 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103-2512 Dear Ms. Garcia: Thank you for your October 17, 2011 letter to JPMorgan Chase’s Chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon, regarding Chase’s Customized Checking test. We appreciate your feedback and are pleased Continue Reading
Categories: Banking
Tags: debit cards, legislation
CU comments to the CFPB on which non-banks it should supervise
Consumers Union,1 the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports®, appreciates the opportunity to comment on this Notice and Request for Comment on how the Bureau should define “larger participants” in markets for other consumer financial products and services. The Bureau’s “larger participant” rule will determine which nondepository covered persons (hereinafter “non-banks”) other than residential mortgage, private Continue Reading
Categories: CFPB
Tags: comment, legislation
CU comments to the OCC on proposed preemption rules for national banks
In this comment letter, CU tells the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) to amend its proposed rules regarding preemption of State consumer financial protection laws.
Since 2004, the OCC, which currently oversees national banks, has had broad preemption rules in place that allow national banks to evade stronger State laws that would protect consumers against predatory lending and other abuses. The Dodd-Frank Act overturned these standards and required the OCC to rewrite their rules – but the OCC’s proposed rules do little more than maintain the status quo, essentially ignoring their new responsibilities under Dodd-Frank.
Categories: CFPB
Tags: comment, legislation
CU and CFA Comments to FTC on Debt Collection and Newer Technologies
Consumers Union and Consumer Federation of America submitted these comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on how the agency can protect consumers in debt collection as newer technologies evolve.
Categories: Debt Collection
Tags: comment, legislation
Consumer groups call on CFPB to ensure public has easy access to complaints collected by financial watchdog
Ms. Catherine West Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Washington, D.C. Ms. Zixta Martinez Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Washington, D.C. May 25, 2011 Ms. West and Ms. Martinez: We the undersigned consumer, civil rights, good government, and community groups, and members of Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) are writing to express our firm belief that Continue Reading
Categories: CFPB
Tags: legislation
Stop Abusive Online Payday Lending, Support a Strong CFPB
Payday Loans Trap Borrowers in High-Cost Debt; Federal regulators should partner with states to ensure online payday loans do not evade their consumer protection laws May 11, 2011 Dear Representative: We, the undersigned consumer and community organizations, are writing to alert you to the dangers of payday lending and to urge you to oppose proposals Continue Reading
Categories: CFPB
Tags: legislation, letter
Fact sheet on CFPB and Congressional efforts to weaken it
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): A Financial Watchdog In Washington For Consumers The CFPB Gets Ready to Launch in July But Is Already Under Attack in Congress In 2010, consumers fought hard for real financial reform and won. The Wall Street reform bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama created the Continue Reading
Categories: CFPB
Tags: legislation
CU and NCLC’s Supplemental Principles for Payroll Cards
CU and NCLC’s Supplemental Principles for Payroll Cards Consumers Union and the National Consumer Law Center worked with the American Payroll Association and Electronic Payment Coalition to develop ten jointly agreed upon core principles for payroll cards. Those joint principles represent serious progress toward ensuring employees receive important consumer protections when they are paid using Continue Reading
Categories: Payroll Cards
Tags: legislation
Joint Principles for Payroll Cards
Joint Principles for Payroll Cards The American Payroll Association, Consumers Union, the Electronic Payroll Coalition, and the National Consumer Law Center have identified and agreed to ten core principles regarding the use of payroll cards. These core principles are essential to promote a fair, safe, and convenient method of delivering wage payments to employees. Our Continue Reading
Categories: Payroll Cards
Tags: legislation
Consumers Union and the National Consumer Law Center’s Model Debt Settlement Law for States
Debt settlement services hold out the promise of settling debts for less than the full amount owed. To achieve the touted result of settling debts, however, the consumer first has to save enough to fund settlements of the debts. Multiple debts may be involved, and the process may be designed to take several years. While Continue Reading
Categories: Debt Relief
Tags: legislation, model law
