The just issued a new policy to make it easier for banks, student loan servicers, payday lenders, and debt collectors to engage in abusive practices. Not kidding. Thread: 1/...
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2/ After the 2008 crash, Congress decided we need a flexible standard prohibiting “abusive” practices in finance. The law prohibits taking “unreasonable advantage” of people who don’t understand their contracts or are unable to protect themselves. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/12
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4/ joined with the Navajo Nation to stop abusive tax refund loan practices that targeted Native Americans.
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5/ And used the abusive practices standard in stopping a for-profit college's predatory private student loan program.
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6/ Mainstream financial institutions engaging in reasonable and transparent practices have nothing to fear from current abusive practices law. The CFPB was circumspect and responsible in using the standard to protect consumers.
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7/ But 's new policy statement fabricates a ‘good faith’ exception that effectively will let businesses engaging in abusive practices off the hook for financial penalties if they claim violations of the law were unintentional. files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cf
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8/ And, 's new policy also says that law enforcement must engage in a cost-benefit test before pleading violations of the law--even Congress explicitly did not include such a test in the statute.
9/ Every American consumer deserves law enforcement that is creative and flexible enough to protect them from abusive financial practices. ’s policy will embolden the worst actors in consumer finance to be more reckless and indifferent to the welfare of their customers.
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10/ Last point: It’s no coincidence announced this awful policy on a Friday afternoon when impeachment is dominating the headlines. The Trump administration is hoping the public won't notice them hobbling consumer law enforcement. Push back with a retweet?
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