Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard University law professor helping launch the new consumer protection bureau, will be attending a town hall meeting  this month in Baltimore. The June 30 th  event is being hosted by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings at the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s Central Branch, 400 Cathedral St. It runs from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event is open to the public. So, come and see the woman who strikes fear in the hearts of bankers and others in the financial services industry and hear her diabolical plans to create transparent mortgage documents and to spread financial literacy.

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been working to design mortgage documents that makes it clear to homebuyers the cost of their loan and other important details. It has posted sample documents, asking consumers to weigh in on which form is best. Now, it's working with the Department of Education to do the same on federal student loans. The CFPB posted a sample loan form , requesting comment. But that's not all. The Bureau also launched a tool to help borrowers struggling to repay loan to understand their options.

Two political leaders, an advocate for seniors and a community activist are to receive consumer-rights awards this month. The Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition said Thursday that it was naming U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings the "Federal Champion of the Year. " The group cited the Baltimore Democrat's efforts to help homeowners in danger of foreclosure and his "stalwart defense" of consumer rights, including support for the fledgling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. State Del. Sandy Rosenberg, also a Democrat from Baltimore, will receive the "Legislative Achievement of the Year" for his work getting passed into law a requirement that arbitrators disclose their record in mandatory arbitration cases.

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.

Elizabeth Warren is a native of Oklahoma, but she might as well be from Baltimore based on the reception the city gave her Thursday night. She spoke at a town hall meeting held by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings to talk about the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau she’s setting up. Given the big applause and standing ovation, you might assume that there wasn’t a banker or anyone from the industry in the crowd. But not true. Kathleen Murphy, president of the Maryland Bankers Association, sat in the first row. Cummings gave a shout out to Murphy for coming to the event.

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.

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...

The Baltimore Sun highlighted a significant issue involving the use of the courts by debt buyers to recover consumer debt they have purchased ("A push for more proof in debt-collection lawsuits," July 25). As the leading voice for credit and debt collection professionals, we want Marylanders to know that ACA International and its affiliate Mid-Atlantic Collectors Association are advocating for reforms to ensure both proper debt documentation and responsible litigation in the collection of consumer debts.

An aim of the landmark credit card reform act of 2009 was to protect consumers from getting too deep into debt. One regulation that took effect in October requires that credit card issuers weigh a consumer's "independent ability to pay" — not household income — before issuing plastic. But now some members of Congress — including Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat who was one of the authors of the card act — want the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to look at whether this regulation is having an unintended consequence.

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.