This ad, sponsored by the American Action Network, was aired during the debate the other night attacking Elizabeth Warren and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau…
https://youtu.be/Ofk0PqjnDM0
The Kremlin styled ad tries to communicate that the CFBP is harmful to consumers because there are more protections for consumers from financial institutions and things related to Communism or Stalin or something…
The commercial paints the CFPB as a Kremlin-like bureaucratic nightmare, with Warren as the Stalinesque figure barring regular Americans from collecting loans. Warren’s face is plastered on a giant red banner in the background, alongside that of CFPB director Richard Cordray. The Soviet imagery is not subtle.
“They call it CFPB,” the ad’s narrator ominously intones. “Washington’s latest regulatory agency, designed to interfere with your personal financial decisions: that car loan you needed, your mortgage, that personal loan. With the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, those who need help the most are denied.”
I guess this can go on the right wing list of government entities to be hated, along with red cups…
But, honestly, here are some things people may not realize the CFPB does to help the average consumer…
Mortgage lenders can no longer push you into a high-priced loan: Until recently, lenders were allowed to direct borrowers toward high-interest loans, which are more profitable for lenders, even if they qualified for a lower-cost mortgage—a practice that helped lead to the financial crisis. In early 2013, the CFPB issued a rule that effectively ends this conflict of interest…
Fly-by-night financial players will be held accountable: Part of the CFPB’s mandate is to oversee debt collectors, payday lenders, and other under-regulated financial institutions that profit off low-income Americans. The bureau is preparing new restrictions on debt collectors, and considering new regs on payday loan industry. In the meantime, the bureau is cracking down on bad actors individually…
Folks scammed by credit card companies get refunds: In October 2012, the CFPB ordered three American Express subsidiaries to pay 250,000 customers $85 million for illegal practices including misleading credit card offerings, age discrimination, and excessive late fees. This past September, the CFPB ordered JPMorgan Chase to refund $309 million to more than 2.1 million Americans for charging them for identity theft and fraud monitoring services they didn’t ask for.
In addition, there are protection for members of the military, student loan holders, and the CFPB has a consumer help center to answer questions.
