Housing aid is threatened in Washington as the Build Back Better Act reconciliation package moves toward a vote. The original $327 billion housing portion is by far the largest and most needed investment in affordable housing in decades. This aid must be protected from deep reductions if we are to address California’s and the nation’s housing … Continued
CFPB Must Regulate Fee-Based Earned Wage Access Products CFA has joined 95 consumer, labor, civil rights, legal services, faith, community, and other financial organizations urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to reverse two actions regarding earned wage access (EWA) products that threaten to create dangerous loopholes in federal consumer protection and fair lending laws … Continued
Since the 1990s, major auto insurers have established telematics programs, which use consumer-generated driving data to calculate auto insurance premiums. These companies use information gathered from plug-in devices and mobile apps to track a variety of information. While these programs show some promise for promoting safe driving and more accurately calculating rates, they also pose … Continued
Long-Standing CFA Director of Investor Protection Moves on to SEC Barbara Roper, CFA’s long-standing Director of Investor Protection, has left the Federation after 35-years of service for a critical position at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “Barb Roper has likely been one of the most influential and effective protectors of the American investor … Continued
California is poised to lead the way again on privacy protection if Governor Gavin Newsom signs SB 41, a bill that requires direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies to obtain consumers’ permission before disclosing their genetic data to third parties and limits the ways this sensitive information can be used without their consent. As Consumer Federation … Continued
Groups Outline Airline Consumer Protection Priorities for DOT Consumer organizations, including CFA, called on the Department of Transportation (DOT) to make airline consumer protection a priority in a July meeting with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. At the meeting, the groups presented the Secretary with a list of airline consumer protection priorities. “The Department of Transportation … Continued
One of the interesting issues that came up in our annual survey about complaints to state and local consumer agencies is the increasing availability of point-of-sale financing for items such as furniture and appliances. These credit arrangements, which are often offered by online financial service or “Fintech” companies in partnership with retailers, can be helpful … Continued
Earlier this week representatives of Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Action, Consumer Reports, the Business Travelers Coalition, Flyers Rights, the National Consumers League, TravelFairnessNow, and Travelers United met virtually with Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). After the last four years in the wilderness, during which there was little action to … Continued
President Signs Bipartisan Repeal of Anti-Consumer “Fake Lender” Rule On June 30, President Biden signed S.J. Res. 15 into law, repealing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC’s) “fake lender” rule and delivering a major victory in the fight to end high-cost, predatory lending. The fake lender rule allowed lenders to evade state … Continued
Consumer Federation of America has joined more than 35 consumer, privacy and civil rights groups in a campaign to ban the use of facial recognition technology in stores, restaurants and other retail establishments. As the website created by campaign coordinator Fight for the Future explains, facial recognition can be used unfairly – and in some … Continued
Growing up in South Carolina, Independence Day was fraught with danger. Most years we spent the holiday at my Aunt Debbie’s timeshare condo in Myrtle Beach. The condo was on a golf course, and my brothers and I spent the days scavenging balls from the ponds and dodging errant shots from our would-be customers. We … Continued
Groups Support the Used Car Safety Recall Repair Act CFA has joined with 14 other public interest, legal services, financial reform, and safety organizations in supporting legislation to place regulations on car dealers who fail to complete free repairs to fix deadly safety recall defects before selling used cars to used car buyers at retail. … Continued
Recently, I did something I had not done in a long time. I ate in a restaurant with my family. Actually, we ate on the outdoor patio, since my kids are too young to be vaccinated and we are somewhat more squeamish than average about COVID, but it was nevertheless a refreshing return to normality … Continued
Senate Votes to Overturn “Fake Lender” Rule With a 52-47 bipartisan vote in the Senate earlier this month, Congress moved one step closer to over-turning the Office of Comptroller of the Currency’s anti-consumer “fake lender” rule, which allows predatory lenders to evade state interest rate laws simply by putting a bank’s name on the paperwork. … Continued
AGs Call for Repeal of OCC’s “True Lender” Rule A bipartisan group of 25 state Attorneys General sent a letter to congressional leadership last month urging Congress to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to rescind the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s “true lender” rule in order to “safeguard states’ fundamental sovereign rights … Continued
Lawmakers in Florida and around the country are considering bills to protect your privacy. We support these efforts and have been working to make sure these laws provide meaningful privacy protections. But a privacy law only works if it can be enforced. While government enforcement is essential, today’s scope of data collection is simply too … Continued
Anti-Consumer Financial Rules Face CRA Challenge Just days before the April deadline for Congressional Review Act challenges, members of Congress filed resolutions to overturn two harmful financial regulations adopted at the end of the previous administration – the Office of Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) “true lender” rule and amendments to the rules governing shareholder … Continued
When are literally truthful claims nevertheless misleading? One example is the subject of a recent letter that CFA and the Center for Science in the Public Interest sent to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The letter asks FDA to enforce deceptive advertising rules against Molson Coors for its Vizzy advertising campaign. Vizzy is a … Continued
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an investigation report that shines a light on the need for a “one-health” approach to produce safety. FDA’s report looks at the factors that may have contributed to outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to leafy greens in the fall of 2020. Food safety experts … Continued
Consumer Federation of America has joined a broad coalition of consumer, privacy, civil rights, and anti-monopoly groups in a campaign to ban “surveillance advertising.” This is the practice of tracking and profiling individuals and groups, and then targeting them for ads based on their behavior, relationships, and other personal information. We’ve long been concerned about … Continued
Risks from SPAC Mania Demand Policy Response SPACs, or Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, have boomed in recent years, with offerings reaching an all-time high of $83 billion in 2020 and with even more in the pipeline for 2021. According to investor advocates, however, this growing way for companies to go public “represents attempts by sponsors … Continued
Groups Urge USDA to Take Action on Poultry Pathogens Consumer Federation of America, along with partner groups Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Reports, and members of Stop Foodborne Illness, submitted a petition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) calling for the agency to develop enforceable standards to reduce foodborne infections caused … Continued
In a Feb. 5 op-ed, David Heffernan, a former outside counsel for Airlines for America, the airlines’ lobbying organization in Washington, and Robert Kneisley, a former associate general counsel for Southwest Airlines, took pains to defend an anti-consumer policy that was stealthily released the day after Thanksgiving in the waning days of former U.S. Transportation Secretary … Continued
Consumer Federation of America strongly supports states’ efforts to protect their residents’ privacy. Unfortunately, we find ourselves once again opposing the Washington Privacy Act (SB 5062), a bill supported by major tech companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google. It’s based on the outdated “notice and opt-out” framework that underpins the current system of commercial … Continued
Consumer Champions Chosen for Two Key Financial Regulatory Posts On the eve of Inauguration, the Biden-Harris Transition Team announced that it had selected leading consumer champions – Rohit Chopra and Gary Gensler – to head two key financial regulatory agencies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) respectively. Both … Continued