President's Proposal would Eliminate Consumer Watchdog and Drive Americans Deeper into Debt
WASHINGTON, DC -- Alongside a parade of horribles in the White House budget, the proposal's attempt to completely defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stands out. The Consumer Bureau has returned approximately $12 billion to the pockets of Americans who had money illegally taken from them by the predatory actions of financial companies, including Wells Fargo, payday lenders, and debt collectors.
Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Senior Legislative Counsel Yana Miles released the following statement:
This budget calls for defunding the Consumer Bureau, the one entity that effectively prevents American families from being cheated by financial companies. Eliminating the Bureau would benefit predatory lenders mostly at the expense of middle-class and low-income American families.
Overall, this budget would pad the pockets of the most prosperous while hurting the most vulnerable in our society, including the housing-insecure, student borrowers, and low-income Americans who need access to responsible credit.
For more information, or to arrange an interview with a CRL spokesperson on this issue, please contact Matthew Kravitz at matthew.kravitz@responsiblelending.org or 202-349-1859.