Senate Passes Anti-Consumer Flood Insurance Bill On a vote of 67-32, the Senate passed legislation (S. 1926) last month that would lower rates for flood insurance, but at the expense of the actuarial soundness of the federal flood insurance program.  In a letter to senators on the eve of the vote, CFA Director of Insurance … Continued

Budget Leaves Poultry Inspection at Risk As Congress was putting the finishing touches on the 2014 federal budget, the Safe Food Coalition and the Worker Health and Safety Coalition sent a letter to House and Senate appropriators opposing budget reductions for USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and urging Congress to strip out provisions in … Continued

Auto Insurers Charge Higher Prices to Drivers with Lower Credit Scores The nation’s two largest auto insurers, State Farm and Allstate, charge moderate-income drivers with poor credit scores much higher prices than comparable drivers with excellent scores, according to new CFA research released earlier this month. Yet, surveys show that, by a greater than two … Continued

Administration Releases Salmonella Action Plan Addressing a pressing food safety issue, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a Salmonella action plan last week designed to reduce the incidence of illness from Salmonella in meat and poultry products.  In a press statement praising the action, Chris Waldrop, Director … Continued

House Advances Anti-Investor Legislation The House of Representatives passed two anti-investor bills last month, one to weaken protections for average retail investors (H.R. 2374) and one to weaken protections against systemic threats to the financial system (H.R. 992).  “While we are disappointed that these anti-investor bills passed, we remain hopeful that they will not progress … Continued

Consumer Needs Should Come First in Mortgage Finance Reform As Congress and the Administration consider how to reform the mortgage finance system, they should put the needs of consumers first, CFA Director of Housing Barry Zigas said in comprehensive comments submitted this week to the Senate Banking Committee.  While there are “many constituencies whose needs … Continued

CFA Warns of Potential Health Care Scams With implementation of the Affordable Care Act scheduled to begin today, CFA issued new tips for consumers on avoiding identity theft and other scams that could accompany the health care act’s roll-out.  “Whenever there is a new government program or benefit, fraudsters will look for ways to take … Continued

Judge Denies Injunction Seeking to Halt COOL Implementation Food safety advocates won an important initial victory last week in their efforts to defend country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules, when a U.S. District Court judge issued a ruling denying a request for a preliminary injunction to prevent implementation of the rules until the lawsuit is concluded. The … Continued

President Outlines Pro-Consumer Plans for Housing Recovery President Obama delivered a speech earlier this month outlining a coordinated set of initiatives to build on the housing economy’s emerging recovery.  In a press statement issued in response to the speech, CFA Director of Housing Policy Barry Zigas called it an “important step in reaffirming housing’s importance … Continued

Some Insurers Charge Higher Rates to Lower Income, Less Educated Workers Some major auto insurers charge higher rates to drivers with less education and lower-status jobs, according to a new analysis released last week by CFA.  The study found that five of the ten largest auto insurers – GEICO, Progressive, Liberty Mutual, Farmers, and American … Continued

Senate Confirms Richard Cordray as CFPB Director After nearly two years in which Richard Cordray’s appointment as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau seemed to be hopelessly stalled, the Senate voted 66-34 Tuesday evening to confirm his nomination.  “With today’s vote … the Senate prioritized the interests of consumers,” said CFA Legislative Director Rachel … Continued

Bipartisan Mortgage Reform Bill Introduced Shortly before Congress left for its July 4th recess, a bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced draft legislation to reform the mortgage finance system.  CFA Director of Housing Policy Barry Zigas called the bill “an important step forward in restoring … Continued

USDA Proposes to Label Mechanically Tenderized Meat In an action long sought by food safety advocates, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service has proposed to label mechanically tenderized meat.  “This is good news for consumers,” said Chris Waldrop, Director of CFA’s Food Policy Institute. “Without labeling, consumers would never know that … Continued

Advocates Petition CPSC to Make Window Covering Cords Safer for Children Consumer and safety groups, including CFA, filed a petition with Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) last month requesting that the agency promulgate mandatory standards to make operating cords for window coverings inaccessible. Named as one of the “top five hidden hazards of the home,” … Continued

CFA Urges Up or Down Vote on Cordray Nomination With Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reportedly planning to press for a vote this week to confirm Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CFA wrote to members of the Senate urging support for his nomination.  Cordray is currently serving as a recess … Continued

Federal Regulators Issue Guidance to Rein in Bank Payday Loans Earning enthusiastic praise from consumer advocates, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued guidance last week directing banks to stop making predatory, high-cost loans that trap borrowers in a cycle of debt. “Requiring banks to assess … Continued

FHFA Proposes Forced Place Insurance Reform Force-placed insurance underwriters would be prohibited from paying fees and commissions to banks that own or service home mortgages that are either delinquent or in foreclosure under a proposal released for comment late last month by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).  Consumer groups, who had been highly critical … Continued

FHFA Proposes Forced Place Insurance Reform Force-placed insurance underwriters would be prohibited from paying fees and commissions to banks that own or service home mortgages that are either delinquent or in foreclosure under a proposal released for comment last week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).  Consumer groups, who had been highly critical of … Continued

Senate Banking Committee Advances Financial Appointments Meeting in executive session Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Development voted along party lines to confirm Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) while giving strong bipartisan support to the nomination of Mary Jo White as Chairman of the Securities and … Continued

President, Congress Urged to Pursue Strong Consumer Agenda In joint letters to President Obama and Congressional leaders, eight of the nation’s leading consumer organizations urged policymakers to pursue a strong, robust agenda of consumer reforms.  With the President’s second term and a new session of Congress underway, the groups identified nine major initiatives, including measures … Continued

CFPB Final Rule Cements Important Consumer Mortgage Protections After nearly two years of work and public comment, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a final rule earlier this month implementing the Dodd-Frank Act’s “ability to repay” and “Qualified Mortgage” (QM) provisions.  In a press statement, CFA Director of Housing Barry Zigas gave the rule … Continued

Congress Acts to Protect Service Members from High Cost Credit Service members using higher-cost credit products, such as payday and auto title loans, will be better protected from abusive interest rates and loan security requirements as the result of recently passed amendments to the Military Lending Act (MLA).  The amendments were included in the conference … Continued

Government Role in Mortgage Securitization Remains a Necessity The nation’s mortgage system needs a stable and dependable securitization model to assure consumers access to affordable long term mortgage loans, and building a modernized system on the current Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac platform is a welcome move, CFA said in comments filed in early December with the … Continued

Senate Bill Would Undermine Independent Agencies, Harm Consumers The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is scheduled to mark up a bill (S. 3468) during the lame duck session that would impose onerous new cost-benefit analysis requirements on independent regulatory agencies and subject significant policies of these agencies to detailed review by the … Continued