Two important federal financial regulators are planning how the future financial needs of low-and-moderate income (LMI) communities will be met. In an effort to “modernize” the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) on December 12 the board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) …
Amid the tinsel and garland celebrating the holiday season, two important federal financial regulators are planning how the future financial needs of low-and-moderate income communities will be met. In an effort to “modernize” the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, on December 12 the board of …
The holiday season is a time when predatory lenders offer enticements to put more debt than money into your pockets. For unsuspecting consumers, it’s a temptation trapped in all kinds of packages that seem too good to pass by. In reality though, these deals are often a debt trap leading to a…
When triple-digit predatory lending is added to already financially challenged consumers, paydays become exchange days, swapping those hard-earned monies for the bills waiting to be paid. Too many times the terms of credit, including high-cost interest and fees wind up costing far more than …
From health care to home loans and educational benefits, our nation supports the well-being and financial security of veterans who have served and their families. VA (Veterans Administration) home loans enable veterans to have their own American Dream, and who wouldn’t want a federal assuran…
For more than 40 years, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) has served as a mechanism for the federal government to hold banks and other depository institutions accountable for meeting the credit needs of low and moderate income (LMI) neighborhoods. Enacted in 1977, the CRA has the power to…
When federal legislation is blocked that would extend and preserve funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), such actions are not only an affront to today’s college students, but also to a history that has led to only 3 percent of the nation’s colleges and universitie…
On September 16, California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote a letter that urged President Donald Trump to recognize homelessness as a “national crisis decades in the making that demands action at every level of government.” He was joined by state officials representing cities and counties.
Most consumers would likely agree that consumers should get what they pay for. If a product or service fails to deliver its promises, refunds are in order. That thinking guided the Obama Administration’s decision to address false promises made to student loan borrowers.
For payday loan borrowers and consumer and civil rights activists, this August 19 was supposed to be the end of payday lending’s nearly inevitable debt trap.
A shooting rampage in El Paso, Texas on August 3 took the lives of 22 people and seriously injured more than two dozen others. Reportedly, the alleged shooter wanted to kill as many Mexicans as he could. Armed with safety glasses, ear coverings and an assault-style rifle, the shooter entered…
Every Fourth of July celebrates this nation’s founding. But this year, only a few days before the annual freedom celebration, an ill-advised governmental action will financially doom rather than free millions of student loan borrowers – as of July 1. Moreover, this action arrives as the cost…
Nearly 90 years ago, Kelly Miller (1863-1939), a black sociologist and mathematician, said, “The Negro is up against the white man’s standard, without the white man’s opportunity.” As the first black man to enroll as a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University in 1908, Miller also authore…
If you’re like me, every time you hear a news reporter or anchor talk about how great the nation’s economy is, you wonder what world they are living in. Certainly these journalists are not referring to the ongoing struggle to make ends meet that so much of Black America faces. For every dail…
Every budget defines priorities and values. To put it another way, what’s really important in life gets supported financially. For many families, having a home, food, and utilities usually rank pretty high. Then there are other budgetary concerns like saving for college or having a ‘rainy da…
Every year the payday lending industry convenes in an effort to further expand and preserve the combined $8 billion in fees generated each year by consumers caught in payday and car-title loans. This year also marks the second consecutive year that the organization representing sellers of th…
On March 7, the House Financial Services Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California), marked the first time that the new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) appeared for a hearing in this capacity. Entitled “Putting Consumers First? A Semi-Annual Revi…
In an increasingly competitive global economy, highly skilled workers have a sharp advantage in securing and keeping employment. And as technological advances result in life-long learning in many occupations, many worker-students turn to federal student aid, the largest source of funding for…
In recent months, many economists and lawmakers have frequently touted how the nation’s economy is performing really well, often citing historically low unemployment rates. I’ve always felt that such pronouncements failed to consider the untold millions of Americans who are eking out a livin…
In 43 states and the District of Columbia, driver’s licenses can be suspended because of unpaid court debt. In most locales, once a driver’s license is suspended, it can retain that designation indefinitely. Only four states currently require an “ability-to-repay” or a “willfulness” determin…
For many consumers, the New Year brings an annual effort to file taxes early enough to help pay off big bills, replace major appliances or tuck away a few bucks. With a continuing federal shutdown, this year there are also an estimated 800,000 federal workers who have not had a payday since …
Once again on the third Monday in January, much of the nation will mark the anniversary of the death of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Countless programs and events will no doubt recall several of his famous speeches from the 1963 March on Washington’s “I Have A Dream to his “I’ve …
Following the death of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, a week of glowing remarks of the elder statesman overshadowed any negative press the former leader received in the past. There was no reference to the racist campaign ad centered on Willy Horton, no mention of his so-called war o…
A decade has passed since the housing collapse. In that time, bank profits are back and continue to rise. Despite occasional trading fluctuations, the stock market remains profitable for most investors. Then there’s the low rate of unemployment that is often cited as if economic strides hav…
With 44 million people together owing $1.5 trillion in student debt, consumers have a huge investment in higher education. And as the price of college continues to rise, student loan borrowing will continue its upward trajectory.
In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson created a new cabinet-level agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The agency became responsible for developing programs and crafting policies that would support urban America with decent housing, homeownership opportunities and more. …
In just a few weeks, civil rights and housing advocates will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. Just four days following the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Congress passed the law on April 10, 1968.
Mounting student debt is a nagging problem for most families these days. As the cost of higher education rises, borrowing to cover those costs often becomes a family concern across multiple generations including the student, parents, and even grandparents or other relatives.
In case you haven’t yet heard, Richard Cordray, the first-ever director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), resigned in late November. President Trump’s unlawful appointment of Mick Mulvaney to serve as the Bureau’s acting director signals a distinct shift in the bureau’s future.
After five years of field hearings, town hall meetings, multiple research reports, and over one million comments, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on October 5 a new rule to rein in predatory payday and car-title loans.
A group of Capitol Hill lawmakers are combining efforts and influence to legislatively crack down on predatory lending nationwide. Seventeen members of the U.S. House and eight U.S. Senators are supporting companion bills that would slash the cost of payday and car-title loans from their typ…
Civil rights leaders and Capitol Hill lawmakers are standing up and speaking out against a recent Department of Education (DOE) decision to sever its working relationship with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In separate and independent actions Education Secretary Betsy DeVos…
Record-breaking back-to-back hurricanes in Houston and Florida brought unprecedented winds and rains affecting millions of Americans. Yet another storm just as brutal but financial in nature is also raging and affects at least 143 million Americans, as well as consumers in Canada and the Uni…
A recent letter from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), along with a controversial appointment, have together triggered reactions that do not bode well for the 44 million consumers who together share $1.4 trillion in borrowed student de…
As millions of students return to school, the nation’s Justice Department (DOJ) is beginning an investigation that could potentially sue universities over affirmative action admissions policies. As first reported by the New York Times, Justice’s Civil Rights Division will carry out this effo…
An old adage teaches, ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.’ In recent months, the troubled Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) tried and lost two legal attempts to recover eligibility for federal education funds.
Consumers are often denied the chance to join forces in court to hold bank and lenders accountable when they seem to have broken the law. Instead, financial contracts frequently contain forced arbitration clauses buried in the fine print. These anti-consumer clauses require that all disputes…
For the 12th consecutive year, America’s national homeownership rate has declined, according Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS)’ annual report, State of the Nation’s Housing 2017. This year’s report also found these declines vary by race and ethnicity.
On April 5 a committee hearing before the House Financial Services Committee was supposed to be one of two mandated sessions required by the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This spring, as in past years, Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection …
A House bill designed to reverse regulation of financial services and end consumer protections is attracting the attention of a growing number of Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Members. In recent days, three CBC Members who are also Ranking Committee members have written their respective c…
In releasing his first-ever federal budget blueprint, President Donald J. Trump stated that his intent was to “Make the Government lean and accountable to the people.” A review of its proposals, however, might be better characterized as mean.
When many consumers think of billion-dollar industries, banks and Wall Street often come to mind. Yet there is another industry in the same lucrative league that affects over 70 million consumers each year: debt collection.
As a new Congress and White House begin their respective governmental roles, a still-growing cadre of supporters and opponents are focusing on the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Millions of consumers who were duped into paying fees for their own credit scores will soon receive more than $17.6 million, thanks to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Affected consumers can expect to receive notification letters in the mail.
David Steward was named co-chair of the transition team for state Treasurer-Elect Eric Schmitt. Steward is co-founder and chairman of World Wide Technology. Former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman is his co-chair. Also serving are former state Senator Jason Crowell and Cliff Holekamp, academic…
While economists contend that the economic recession is over, the reality for much of Black America is starkly different. Racial disparities in unemployment and under-employment persist. And homeownership, a key measure of economic health for consumers and communities alike, continues its do…
For more than a decade, broad-based coalitions at both the state and federal levels have united consumer advocates, labor, clergy, civil rights champions and others in calling for an end to predatory lending. Although 16 states and the District of Columbia effectively ban payday lending, the…
Despite consensus by economists that the economic recovery is well underway, many of America’s working poor, under-employed and unemployed people continue to struggle financially. Adding insult to injury, these financially vulnerable households face debt collectors who harass and sue them on…
In this wonderful time of the year when family and friends gather in good cheer to celebrate the holidays, nearly everyone has a number of lists. From greeting cards to shopping for gifts, decorations and more, lists are made and reviewed to keep pace with the barrage of seasonal activities.
Over the past decade, no state has authorized either predatory payday or car title loans. That consumer financial progress came about through a combination of state and local advocates working with state lawmakers to bring a sense of financial fairness to their local communities.
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