Tuesday, March 12, 2013

10 reasons the Senate should confirm Richard Cordray and let the CFPB protect consumers from predatory banks

Teamsters strongly support the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. On Cordray's watch, the CFPB has already recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for consumers cheated by credit card companies, cracked down on illegal foreclosures of military families and investigated predatory lending by for-profit colleges.

If the Senate doesn't approve Cordray's nomination, you'll know why: too many senators are beholden to banks that want a free hand to exploit their customers.

Americans for Financial Reform provides a list of 10 reasons the Senate should approve Cordray's nomination and let the CFPB do its job.

Since the CFPB was created in July 2011, it has:
  1. Returned $457 million to nearly 6 million credit card holders cheated by Capital One, Discover and American Express. 
  2. Wrote new regulations that prohibit banks and mortgage companies from disguising costs and making loans that borrowers can't afford.
  3. Recovered money for people who've been ripped off on their student loans. 
  4. Cracked down on illegal foreclosures of military families. 
  5. Force disclosure of the fees for sending money overseas.
  6. Shut down fraudulent companies that collect up-front fees for help they don’t deliver to desperate borrowers.
  7. Investigated banks for conning customers to opt into expensive overdraft protection programs, including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, PNC, Bank of America, and five other banks.(Still ongoing.)
  8. Investigated allegations of harassment and deception by the 175 largest debt-collection firms. (Still ongoing.)
  9. Set up a complaint system in which more than half of people complaining about credit card companies got a financial settlement. 
  10. Established a database where consumers can find out what credit card companies people are complaining about.
Convinced? Then sign a petition to your senators and urge them to support the nomination of Richard Cordray. Just follow the link here.