Consumer Law & Policy Blog

My Brief Conversation with a Trump Supporter About Elizabeth Warren

by Jeff Sovern

Trump Supporter: [attacks Elizabeth Warren]

Me: Have you read any of her writings?

Trump Supporter: I don't want to be educated.

Not that anyone should put much stock in a sample of one, but I found it entertaining.

House Financial Services Chair Hensarling: Financial CHOICE Act Will Change

Politico interviewed him here.  Excerpt:

There will be some areas that will be improved but fundamentally you are going to look at a very similar piece of legislation that is going to replace bailouts with bankruptcy, that's going to give working Americans greater opportunities when it comes to their mortgages, their credit cards and achieving financial independence.

 

More on the Possiblity of Neugebauer Replacing CFPP Director Cordray

From HuffPo. Excerpt:

Trump met with former Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) on Wednesday and is considering Neugebauer to run the CFPB, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer confirmed on a Thursday call with reporters.

A source close to the transition team told HuffPost that Neugebauer has yet to be offered the job, but that no other candidates are being looked at yet. * * *

When he was in Congress, Neugebauer opposed CFPB actions like the first-ever federal rule cracking down on payday loans. He labeled the agency’s effort to require payday lenders to take basic steps to ensure consumers can pay back their loans and not get trapped in a cycle of debt as a “paternalistic erosion of consumer product choices.”

FTC Chair Edith Ramirez Announces Departure, Leaving Three Seats Vacant

WaPo has the story here. excerpt:

Ramirez's impending departure from the FTC is likely to leave the agency shorthanded with three vacancies on the five-member panel. With one Republican and one Democrat remaining, the FTC will likely be deadlocked in a partisan tie until the Trump administration can fill the other vacancies, which could take months.

Not only will President-Elect Trump get to name those three commissioners, as well as the chair, but the term of incumbent Commissioner Maureen K. Ohlhausen expires in 2019, meaning he will get to name a fourth during his term. 

Citigroup to return $22.5M to overcharged customers to end NY Attorney General's investigation

Patch.com reports:

[New York] Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced Thursday the resolution of a four-year investigation of a Citigroup subsidiary that had overcharged over 47,000 of its customers more than $22.5 million in fees.

After the Attorney General’s Office launched its investigation, Citigroup Global Markets, Inc revised its policies and procedures to address the fee overcharge issues uncovered in the investigation, and as a part of the agreement announced today, CGMI admits the findings of Schneiderman’s investigation, the AG said.

The investigation began in 2012 after a complaint from a Westchester resident led the Attorney General’s Office to investigate fee overcharge issues at CGMI. The company began reimbursing 31,000 customers in full with interest for the overcharged fees back in 2014, while uncovering still more who had been overcharged — another 16,000 customers.

The full article is here.

The NY Attorney general's press release is here.

Dallas News: Texas Congressman Randy Neugebauer, Reported to be Under Consideration to Head CFPB, Met With Trump

Here.  Excerpt:

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, a Dallas Republican, has griped that the agency is “the single most powerful and least accountable federal agency in all of Washington.” He has pushed for the agency to be led by a bipartisan commission, rather than a single director.

Neugebauer has endorsed that proposition, filing a bill that would have a five-member commission lead the agency.

“Over the last several years, the Bureau’s actions and record have proven it can’t function in a sustainable manner,” Neugebauer said when he introduced the bill in 2015. “Perhaps, more than any other Washington agency, the CFPB has demonstrated a lack of transparency and a lack of accountability.”

Brianne Gorod Explains Why Trump Can't Fire CFPB Director Cordray on Day One

In November, we linked to Aditya Bamzai's blog post at Notice and Comment arguing that President-Elect Trump could fire CFPB Director Cordray on the first day of his presidency.  Brianne Gorod, Chief Counsel at the Constitutional Accountability Center, has replied on Notice and Comment in a post titled Why the CFPB Director Shouldn’t Be Going Anywhere.  

House Financial Services Committee Democrats Urge Trump Not to Fire Cordray

The letter is here.

CFPB Issues Debt Collection Studies, Finds a Quarter of Consumers Contacted By Debt Collectors Feel Threatened

Here.  Quoting from the Bureau's release:

 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) report released today found that over one-in-four consumers contacted by debt collectors felt threatened. The report was drawn from the first-ever national survey of consumer experiences with debt collectors. Over 40 percent of consumers who said they were approached about a debt in collection requested that a creditor or collector stop contacting them. Of these consumers, three-in-four report that debt collectors did not honor their request to cease contact. The CFPB is also releasing a study of potential risks in the online debt marketplace, where consumer debts and personal information are for sale for fractions of pennies on the dollar. Finally, the CFPB is unveiling an online series of consumers’ stories about their debt collection experiences.

* * *

• More than half of consumers report incorrect contact for at least one debt: Fifty-three percent of consumers contacted about a debt in the year prior said at least one collection effort was mistaken in some way. These consumers reported that the creditor or collector sought the incorrect amount, that the debt was not owed, or that the person owing the debt was a family member.
• Over one-third of consumers report being contacted at inconvenient times: Thirty six percent of consumers contacted about a debt in collection said that the creditor or collector who most recently contacted them called between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. Debt collectors generally cannot call at times they know to be inconvenient unless the consumer specifically agrees to it.
• Nearly 40 percent of consumers report that a debt collector attempted contact four or more times per week: Thirty seven percent of consumers contacted about a debt in collection report that the most recent creditor or collector to contact them usually did so four or more times in a week. About 20 percent of consumers approached by debt collectors reported contact attempts by debt collectors usually four to seven times per week. Another 17 percent said a creditor or debt collector tried contacting them eight or more times per week.
•  One-in-seven consumers contacted about a debt report being sued: Fifteen percent of consumers contacted about a debt in collection over the prior year report being sued. The share ranges from 6 percent sued among those contacted about a single debt to 35 percent sued among consumers contacted about five or more debts. About 75 percent of those sued do not go to the court hearing, which generally makes them responsible for the debt.

And here is a striking quote from Director Cordray's remarks:

But of those who were sued, only one out of four even attended the court hearing. This means that collectors can usually count on consumers ignoring or overlooking a lawsuit, which makes it easier to hold them responsible for the debt regardless of whether it can be documented or verified. 

FCC warns of debt-collection and other financial-service scam calls

"The Federal Communications Commission is alerting consumers to be aware of callers falsely offering lower credit card payments or interest rates, credit card debt relief, and improved credit scores. These scams can be more common during and after the holiday season when many consumers carry more debt than at other times of year.

The FCC has received a growing number of complaints from consumers about scammers claiming that they can offer debt relief or refinancing opportunities to reduce account balances or interest rates. Some of these callers falsely claim to be monitoring the consumer’s credit or loan payment history.  The victim is illegally asked for credit card numbers or personally identifiable information in false attempts to “help,” then is threatened, harassed, or intimidated if they refuse to comply with the scammer’s demands. These scammers then attempt to use the account information to make unauthorized purchases or access funds for fraudulent purposes."

The FCC's full Consumer Alert is here.