Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Eileen Ambrose 's article about Elizabeth Warren ("Consumer advocate feared by financial institutions appears in Baltimore," July 3) faithfully captured the confidence placed in her by average Americans. If we are to avoid a repeat of the recent economic recession caused by criminal fraud perpetrated by Wall Street manipulators and big banks, we need an effective Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headed by Elizabeth Warren. President Obama must draw a line in the sand and not allow dangerous elements in the Congress to derail her appointment.

Baltimore police arrested five people last week accused of impersonating city tax collectors and going to the homes of elderly residents to rob them. These are disturbing allegations. But apparently, scam artists who pretend to have ties to the government so they can take advantage of older consumers aren't all that rare. That's what senior advocates are telling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal agency with a mandate to promote financial literacy among those 62 and older and protect them from fraud and abuse.

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is redesigning mortgage disclosures to consolidate them and make the information easier to understand. Last month the Bureau floated two trial samples, asking for feedback. The new agency received nearly 13,400 responses. Now comes Round 2. The agency took comments under advisement and now wants to know what you think of the revisions . Specifically, the CFPB asks: -- Would this form help consumers understand the closing costs associated with their loans?

Much of the wealth of millions of baby boomers is tied up in their houses — a sure sign we're going to see a growing demand for reverse mortgages. These mortgages allow older homeowners to drain the equity in their house without having to sell it or make monthly payments. For now, though, these complex loans make up only a tiny percentage of housing loans — and that's a good thing. It gives regulators, the industry and consumer advocates time to bolster borrower protections and education before widespread problems occur.

Maryland's Commissioner of Financial Regulation, along with regulators in other states, has agreed to cooperate with the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on supervising providers of consumer financial products, Maryland officials announced Tuesday. As part of this memorandum of understanding, state regulators and the new federal consumer bureau agree to consult each other on the procedures and practices used when conducting compliance examinations on businesses such as banks, mortgage lenders and money transmitters.

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau won't assume its powers until July, but efforts are under way to weaken the federal agency before it gets off the ground. Republicans recently introduced several bills that would tamper with the bureau's funding, make it easier for its regulations to be overturned and even delay its launch. Three of them are expected to be taken up by the House Financial Services Committee this week. And last week, 44 Republican Senators sent a letter to President Barack Obama saying they won't approve anyone he nominates to lead the agency unless it's restructured in a way that would reduce its power and independence.

Much of the wealth of millions of baby boomers is tied up in their houses — a sure sign we're going to see a growing demand for reverse mortgages. These mortgages allow older homeowners to drain the equity in their house without having to sell it or make monthly payments. For now, though, these complex loans make up only a tiny percentage of housing loans — and that's a good thing. It gives regulators, the industry and consumer advocates time to bolster borrower protections and education before widespread problems occur.

Corinne Cooper wants something done about insurers raising homeowners' premiums based on credit scores. Robert Kane advocates for more protections when consumers deal with cellphone and Internet providers. And Shane Algarin recommends making it harder for thieves to use stolen credit cards. These are some of the hundreds of suggestions pouring into the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The federal agency is still setting up. But it launched a website in early February to gather consumers' input and is reaching out to them on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, too. "The site is not like any other government site I have seen," says Eric Jones, a vice president with R2Integrated, a digital marketing and Web technology firm in Baltimore.

A liberal political group is pushing Elizabeth Warren candidacy for the Senate now that President Obama has decided not to name her to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Warren dreamed up the idea of the new agency, but Republicans in Congress vehemently oppose her and the bureau. Progressive Change Campaign Committee has been trying to get signatures and donations for the Harvard law professor's potential race to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate. The “Draft Elizabeth Warren” campaign has so far raised $45,300 and collected 25,548 signatures.

Eileen Ambrose 's Op-Ed column on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rightly notes that the priorities of Elizabeth Warren, the consumer advocate many people expect President Obama to nominate to head the agency, "aren't as extreme as some business groups fear" ("Critics continue efforts to chip away at the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau," May 8). In fact, they're not extreme at all. Although she is now under attack from the right as if she were some kind of radical, Ms. Warren is a brilliant, long-time champion of middle-class values who has built a career working to make markets transparent and fair enough to work for all of us. Basic economic theory holds that markets only function effectively when people have full information.

University of Maryland system is among 10 colleges and universities promising to make financial aid transparent to students. It's part of an Obama Administration effort to make sure incoming students understand what they're getting into. The hope is that other schools will voluntarily do the same. Today, VP Joe Biden, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Richard Cordray of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are meeting with leaders of the 10 schools to announce this transparency goal beginning with the 2013-2014 school year.

Finally, a spotlight will be shone on a widespread business practice that forces unhappy customers to settle disputes through binding arbitration — rather than by telling their story in court. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau now is seeking public input about mandatory arbitration clauses in the contracts of financial products and services. More important, the board has the power to limit or even eliminate the clauses if they hurt consumers. For far too long, consumers have been forced to sign away their rights to sue a company should a problem arise.

Republicans lament the action taken by our president to make a recess appointment - finally - to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a valuable government agency. I do not know the likely outcome of any challenge to this action, but hope that it stands in the face of obstructionists who want to subvert consumer protection law. Americans deserve such protection as evidenced by the preponderance of subterfuge in the past decade. Since they claim to have no issue with the appointee (former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray)

To: Richard Cordray, Director Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Dear Mr. Cordray: First, congratulations on your appointment to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Unless the banking interests have their way, your appointment is expected to last at least through the end of next year. And now with a director in place, the agency will be able to exercise its full powers to oversee such groups as payday lenders, credit bureaus and private education lenders. Granted, you have a lot on your plate, but here are a few suggestions on where to focus your attention: Payday lenders They provide advances on paychecks, and the fees charged are the equivalent of an annual interest rate of a few hundred percent.

President Barack Obama owes congressional Republicans at least a thank-you card for their efforts to block Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That GOP leaders continue to howl over Mr. Obama's decision on Wednesday to elevate Mr. Cordray to the post as a recess appointment shows theirs is the gift that keeps on giving. Only in the Bizarro World that is Washington these days is the fight over the Cordray appointment understandable. Republicans claim to be holding it up because they want to see the 18-month-old consumer watchdog agency reorganized (that is, weakened)

Republicans in the Senate have refused vote for any director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau until the agency is weakened. Without a director, the CFPB's powers are more limited. This morning, the White House announced it would appoint Richard Cordray as director in a recess appointment.  Senate Republicans have tried to block such a move by keeping a Senator or two on the job, so there is no recess. But apparently the White House had enough, according to this press release on its website: "The Constitution gives the President the authority to make temporary recess appointments to fill vacant positions when the Senate is in recess, a power all recent Presidents have exercised.  The Senate has effectively been in recess for weeks, and is expected to remain in recess for weeks.  In an overt attempt to prevent the President from exercising his authority during this period, Republican Senators insisted on using a gimmick called “pro forma” sessions, which are sessions during which no Senate business is conducted and instead one or two Senators simply gavel in and out of session in a matter of seconds.  But gimmicks do not override the President's constitutional authority to make appointments to keep the government running.  Legal experts agree.  In fact, the lawyers who advised President Bush on recess appointments wrote that the Senate cannot use sham “pro forma” sessions to prevent the President from exercising a constitutional...

Military service members are often taken advantage of by unscrupulous lenders. It's so bad, that Congress required that the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have a special office designed just to deal with the education and protection of service members and their families. Now the CFPB is seeking public input on products and services tailored to service members so it can use the information to design education and outreach programs for the military. This initiative is headed up by Holly Petraeus, the CFPB's Assistant Director for the Office of Servicemembers Affairs and, yes, the wife of the former general.

Hard as Senate Republicans try to prevent the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from fully doing its job, you got to hand it to the agency for doing what it can. The CFPB now says it wants to hear from whistleblowers with information about those violating federal consumer protection laws. The agency now is taking tips by email at whistleblower@cfpb.gov and via phone at (855)695-7974. Next year, it will launch a way to turn in a wrongdoer on its website. You can ask that your identity be kept confidential.

"Balanced. " "Fair-minded. " Showing "great personal integrity. " These are some of the terms a bipartisan group of 37 state attorneys general used to describe former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, President Barack Obama's nominee for director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Add to that list "good public servant," the phrase Ohio Republican Sen. Robert Portman used to describe him just days ago. Sounds like a radical, doesn't he? If he's not, how else do we explain last week's move by 45 members of the U.S. Senate to block his appointment to that post?