OHIOANS TELL SENATOR PORTMAN TO STOP CODDLING PREDATORY LENDERS AND BLOCKING CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

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Tabitha Woodruff

Thousands Urge Support for Confirmation of Cordray to head CFPB

Ohio PIRG

 

May 2, COLUMBUS – That was the message of petitions delivered to Senator Portman today by the Ohio Public Interest Research Group (Ohio PIRG) and Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP), both members of Americans for Financial Reform (AFR). The petitions, which call on the Senate to confirm Richard Cordray to a full term as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, bore the signatures of more than 160,000 people, including over 5,000 citizens of Ohio.

 “Senators have a simple choice: they can bring this nomination to a vote, or they can do the bidding of the Wall Street lobbyists and shady lenders who have been trying to undermine the CFPB ever since they failed to prevent its creation,” said Tabitha Woodruff, Advocate for Ohio PIRG.

After favorable action by the Banking Committee, Cordray’s renomination goes before the full Senate. Director Cordray has earned wide and bipartisan praise for his leadership of the CFPB up to now. Unfortunately for the citizens of Ohio however, Senator Portman is working to dramatically weaken the CFPB on behalf of his 43 colleagues in the Senate blocking Cordray’s nomination.

“Predatory lending, in addition to being a major cause of the financial crisis and its ongoing damage to the U.S. economy, costs Americans billions of dollars year in and year out,” said Deonna Kirkpatrick, Communications Director for ESOP. “An effective CFPB is our first line of defense.”

Ohio PIRG and ESOP, which took part in today’s delivery, have also asked Senator Portman’s offices for a meeting to discuss the Senator’s position. They will be meeting with staff today in the Toledo, Columbus, and Cincinnati offices.

The CFPB was created after the financial crisis of 2008 to end predatory lending and bring basic standards of fairness and transparency to the world of credit cards, mortgages, education loans, auto loans, debt collection, credit scoring and other financial products and practices.

Here’s just some of what this new agency has already done:

  • Returned nearly half a billion dollars to consumers cheated by credit card companies;
  • Moved to end the era of mortgages designed to rake in up-front fees before they self-destruct;
  • Stood up for students and families trapped in high-cost private education loans; and deceptive lending practices; and
  • Protected military families against illegal foreclosures and deceptive lending practices.

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