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Ohio consumer attorney ensures that, even if the Trump Administration hides huge consumer complaints database, you can still access it

6/25/2018

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Mick Mulvaney is the Darth Vader of the Trump Administration when it comes to hating real people and worshiping at the feet of his Emperors, the corporate masters who own him. Mulvaney hates the very idea of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that a bought and sold Congress cannot neuter because it is funded independently like the Federal Reserve and EVERY OTHER financial agency.

Mulvaney wants to make CFPB like the FCC and FTC and all the other agencies that have been totally neutered and rendered impotent by a Congress in hock to campaign contributors who crack the whip and watch their minions jump.

A consumer attorney in Ohio isn't having any of this, and has put the entire CFPB consumer complaints database online outside the CFPB's control, and promises to keep it updated -- so even as Mulvaney tries to hide the complaints, this new database will ensure that real people will be able to access it.
DannLaw launches "Scoundrels, Scams and Cheats" database to ensure public access to CFPB consumer complaint reports

On April 25, Mick Mulvaney, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told a group of financial services lobbyists and executives that he would soon hide the Bureau's consumer complaint database from the American people and the media. They applauded.

Today that applause stopped as DannLaw founder and former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann outlined his law firm's plan to undo Mulvaney's betrayal of the public trust. "I am pleased to announce that DannLaw has downloaded all the information in the CFPB database and uploaded it into one that will remain accessible to the public and the media once Mulvaney carries out his threat," Dann said. "Mulvaney, who is owned by the financial services industry, doesn't own the material in the CFPB's files, the public does. From this day forward, consumers will always be able to review and assess it by logging onto www.dannlaw.com/complaint-database/

Dann said his firm would update the database monthly by lodging Freedom of Information Act requests for any new complaints lodged with the Bureau. "If Mulvaney won't turn the reports over voluntarily we're prepared to take him to court, monthly if need be," Dann said. "No matter how hard he may try, we're not going to allow them to hide this information from the American people."

Dann noted that although Mulvaney has the authority to shut down the public-facing side of the database, the Bureau must, by law, continue to accept complaints. "We've placed links to the CFPB's complaint form on www.dannlaw.com and we will encourage people to continue to report abuses and illegal behavior," he said. "We're sure the director is going to bury the
complaint form on an obscure page on the Bureau's website. We want to make it easy for consumers to find and use it."

Set up in 2012, the database, which contains more than 1,000,000 complaints lodged against financial firms, has become a critically important resource for Americans who want to avoid being cheated or scammed, the media, academics, and regulators who have used it to gather evidence against companies that violate consumer protection laws. It's also become a major source of embarrassment for Equifax, Wells Fargo and other companies that have been the subject of thousands of complaints in recent years.

Dann said he's not surprised that those companies have been attempting to shut down the database since it was set up or that Mulvaney is about to answer their prayers. "Mulvaney opposed the creation of the CFPB when he was a member of Congress which also isn't surprising when you consider that he's accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from banks, credit card companies, payday lenders, and other financial services companies during his career," he said. "I'm sure they're pleased that they've gotten exactly what they paid for: a guy who puts Wall Street's interests above those of the American people at the drop of a check-laden hat."

Along with the searchable database, the firm created a "Hall of Shame" list of the companies consumers have complained about most and instructions for accessing and reviewing reports.

The Hall of Shame is
posted at www.dannlaw.com/scoundrels-scams-and-cheats-hall-of-shame/

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Great, now regular banks are getting into the legalized loan sharking known as Payday lending

9/12/2011

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From the Naked Capitalism blog:

Payday Loans Are Dead! Long Live Payday Loans!

In yet another example of finance double-speak, major financial players have moved into that netherworld of the functional equivalent of loansharking known as payday lending.

While in theory short-term loans can be a boon to cash-strapped individuals, in practice, the usurious interest of payday loans result in many borrowers falling into a debt treadmill. The Pentagon was so concerned about the way that payday lending could wreak havoc with the lives of combat personnel that it restricted the rates that could be charged to military personnel to 36%. The industry howled that rules would drive payday lenders out of the business of serving the armed forces (they had previously been targeting bases). I suspect that result was a feature, not a bug.

. . . But some industry critics say fixed-income borrowers are not only more reliable, they are also more lucrative. Often elderly or disabled, they are typically dependent on smaller fixed incomes and are rarely able to pay off their loans quickly. “It’s not like they can work more hours,” says David Rothstein, an analyst at Policy Matters Ohio, an economic research group in Cleveland. “They’re trapped.”

The latest sighting, via the Associated Press (hat tip April Charney) is that bigger, more reputable-looking banks are offering payday loans, but predictably calling them something else, in much the way that the term “escort service” is meant to imply something more refined than “prostitution”. From the Clarion Ledger:

Perhaps muttering, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, big banks are now aping the payday lending industry and offering short-term loans at rates that once were called usurious.

The banks are not calling them payday loans and say there are safeguards that distinguish them from payday loans. But, it’s still a short-term note. Wells Fargo, for example, offers its loans for direct deposit customers. As The Associated Press has reported, it says customers can only borrow up to half their direct deposit amount or $500, whichever is less. Its fees are cheaper too, at $7.50 for every $100 borrowed.

That still amounts to a 261 percent annualized interest rate over the typical pay cycle. The amount of the advance and the fee are automatically deducted from the next direct deposit. . . .


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I (heart) Liz Warren more every time I hear her

4/8/2011

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More reasons to (heart) Liz Warren

3/22/2011

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"Who's afraid of reforming Wall St?  Well, pretty much everybody in Washington except for Elizabeth Warren"

". . .  And then there's the question of Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard law professor who invented the idea of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and should be its first director. The Administration seems undecided on whether to appoint her, fearing a Senate confirmation battle that could last for months. "The banks are scared to death of her," one Senator told me. "She speaks in clear, simple sentences. That terrifies them."

Which means this is a fight worth having — and a way to dramatize the complicated issues at the heart of regulatory reform. The President should appoint Warren. The Senate should be forced to vote on her, so the public will know who really wants to clean up Wall Street and who doesn't."
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I (Heart) Liz Warren even more now

3/17/2011

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Because the word is that Wall St. "loathes" her:

Elizabeth Warren, the woman the financial industry loathes
Jeff Manning, The Oregonian
. . .  Warren is the Harvard academic and firebrand consumer advocate who for years has been making life uncomfortable for the financial industry. She was also Obama's pick to be interim head of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Now, four months before the Bureau even officially comes into existence, the banking industry and its Congressional water-carriers are attacking her and the bureau. 

Characteristic of the attack was Wednesday's Wall Street Journal editorial, which huffed and puffed that the bureau was accountable to no one and that Warren was already stretching the bureau's portfolio, inserting herself into ongoing negotiations between state attorneys general and the banks over questionable foreclosures. . . .

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Finally: Federal Benefits Needed for Daily Living Protected from Garnishment! National Consumer Law Center Presser

3/8/2011

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New Treasury Rule Protects Social Security, VA, Other Federal Benefits

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal rule issued today that strengthens protections for bank accounts used to collect federal benefits is welcome news for retirees, veterans and disabled persons, according to a lawyer for the National Consumer Law Center.

The “interim final” rule, which will take effect on May 1 but is still open for public comment, will limit creditors’ ability to freeze and take funds from accounts that contain Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), VA and other federal benefits. These benefits, which are legally protected from court-issued garnishment orders, are critical to the survival of many recipients.

 . . . “All too often, elders, veterans, and disability benefit recipients who rely on these benefits for their basic needs have been unable to access them for extended periods because of creditor-imposed garnishment freezes.”

Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), VA, and similar federal benefits are intended to meet beneficiaries’ daily needs. Federal law makes these funds immune from seizure by creditors.

But in practice, creditors frequently obtain court garnishment orders so that banks then freeze bank accounts containing protected funds. A beneficiary may be unable to access urgently needed funds for weeks or months.  Often, the paperwork and procedures needed to end an illegal freeze prove too daunting for a recipient, so that a bank turns over supposedly “untouchable” funds to a creditor.

The new rule prohibits the practice of denying beneficiaries access to these essential funds in bank accounts.  It requires all banks to determine whether an account contains protected funds. If an account contains protected funds, the bank is required to protect two months of benefit payments from garnishment. Protection of more than two months of benefit payments requires additional court filings by the beneficiary.

In announcing the rule, the agencies stated that its framework could be expanded in future years to protect other federal payments such as military retirement.  “There are still many other steps that need to be taken to make bank accounts safe,” Saunders said. “But this new rule will give peace of mind to many elders, veterans, and disability benefit recipients.”

Comments on the new rule may be filed by May 24, 2011, by going to www.regulations.gov and entering “3206-AM17” in the keyword field.

# # #

National Consumer Law Center® is a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of low-income and elder consumers. NCLC works with thousands of legal services, government and private attorneys, as well as organizations, who represent low-income and elderly individuals on consumer issues.

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Financial Consumer Protection Bureau website open to suggestion(s)

2/3/2011

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Dear Colleague,
 
In July 2010, Congress created a new federal agency to protect American consumers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be a cop on the beat, working to make consumer financial markets work better for American families. As the first new consumer agency of the 21st century, we can communicate directly with the people we serve.
 
Today, that work is just beginning. We’re moving quickly—building a terrific team, finding office space, and unpacking a lot of boxes.
 
Things aren’t all in place yet, but we don’t want to delay reaching out to the people who care about this agency. We’re excited to announce the launch of our website, ConsumerFinance.gov, for one very important reason – to start a conversation with you. With the launch of our site, we will be Open for Suggestions.
 
We hope you are eager to learn what this new agency will do and how it might affect you. In turn, we are definitely eager to hear what you have to say. Starting today, you can use the Internet to send us your best suggestions and questions for the bureau:
 
If you have a video camera, record a YouTube video and upload it as a response to our welcome video at http://www.youtube.com/CFPB.
 
If you like Twitter, tweet your suggestion using the hashtag #CFPB. You can also follow us at http://www.twitter.com/CFPB.
 
If you are on Facebook, you can “Like” us at http://www.facebook.com/CFPB, and post your suggestion on our wall.
 
If you want to use our website, you can post suggestions at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/openforsuggestions.
 
In the coming days and weeks, staff who are building this new agency will record direct video responses to some of the most frequent questions and most interesting suggestions. You’ll see the faces and meet the people who come to work every day to make a difference for the American people.  We look forward to getting to know a little more about you, too.  More is coming, so be sure to check back at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/openforsuggestions throughout the coming weeks.
 
 
Open for Suggestions is just one way that we plan to keep our conversation going with you. Be funny! Be creative! Most of all, be real about what matters to you. This is a great chance to go into your community with a camera, laptop, or mobile phone, or just a pen and paper, and help others participate. Involve your friends, your family, your colleagues and classmates, your faith community, and anyone you know who might be counting on this agency for information and help.
 
If you aren’t ready with a specific comment, that’s OK.  Just let us know you are there—and stay in touch.
 
We can’t do it without you.
 
Thanks,
Elizabeth Warren
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