State/Local News
- EDITORIAL Greensboro (NC) News and Record: Let’s not drop protections for troops from attacks by predatory lenders
“Members of the armed forces and their families make significant sacrifices to keep our country safe. The least our government can do in return is provide them with basic protections that make it possible for them to manage their finances without being ripped off.” - TV News Segment, WAVY Norfolk, VA: Proposed change to military loan law angers Kaine, Warner
“It’s called the Military Lending Act. The agency that enforces it wants to do away with its best weapon to keep our military from getting in way over their heads financially.” - EDITORIAL Newport News (VA) Daily Press: Don’t dilute protection for military loans
“On a federal level, any moves to weaken federal protections for military borrowers is a non-starter and must be scrapped.” - EDITORIAL Everett (WA) The Daily Herald: Keep protection of agency’s payday loan rule
“Since taking over last year, Mulvaney has eased restrictions imposed by the bureau; dropped enforcement efforts, such as those passed by Congress in the Military Lending Act of 2006…” - Warning: Rules governing oversight of military lending may be changing
Article ran in Memphis, TN; Dayton, OH; Seattle, WA; Pittsburgh, PA; Atlanta, GA; Tulsa, OK; and, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Palm Beach, FL.
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability to proactively ferret out financial abuses of our nation’s military looks set to be severely curtailed….” - WABE (Atlanta NPR station): New Rules On Financial Protections May Hurt Ga. Military Members
Military-focused News
- Military Times: Senators urge consumer protection agency not to ‘abandon’ duty to protect troops, families
“According to the CFPB, their enforcement actions have resulted in about $130 million that has been provided in relief to service members, veterans and their families.” - Military.com: Lawmakers Charge Trump Administration Easing Up on Payday Lenders to Troops
“On Twitter, the National Military Family Association urged the OMB to reconsider, saying, ‘Military families remain vulnerable to financial predators — protections under Military Lending Act and [CFPB] must remain strong.’ For more than a decade, military leaders, in statements and at congressional hearings, have warned troops of the dangers of being caught up in spiraling debt by resorting to payday lenders, many of whom set up storefronts just outside base main gates…. Troops often refer to payday lenders as ‘snakeheads,’ but many are still lured in by the promise of easy terms.” - ClearanceJobs.com: If the Military Lending Act Is in Jeopardy, so Are Clearances
“Predatory lenders can destroy a service member’s credit. The Military Lending Act currently protects them, but that might be about to change…. Financial problems are the primary reason that workers and service members to lose their security clearances.” - Task & Purpose: Reports: The Trump Administration Wants To Weaken A Major Financial Protection For Service Members
National News
- New York Times: Mulvaney Looks to Weaken Oversight of Military Lending
“The proposal surprised advocates for military families, who have urged the government to use its powers to crack down harder on unscrupulous lenders…. The agency’s supervisory exams have been critical in uncovering previous instances of wrongdoing and led to several of its biggest fines.” - NPR: White House Takes Aim At Financial Protections For Military
“NPR has obtained documents that show the White House is proposing changes that critics say would leave service members vulnerable to getting ripped off when they buy cars.” - NPR: 49 Senators Want To Keep Protections Of Military Lending Act In Place
“[Senator Jack Reed said:] It’s just sort of cutting loose these men and women in uniform saying go out there and defend this country, but when it comes to your financial well-being at home, you’re on your own.” - CNN: NYT: Mulvaney to weaken military lending oversight
- Vox: The Trump administration is dismantling financial protections for the military
“Predatory lenders disproportionately target military members. The CFPB will no longer supervise them…. ‘This is akin to removing your sentries from guard posts on military compounds….’ Retired Army Col. Paul Kantwill [said]…. ‘If they’re trying to roll back those types of protections, we are absolutely going to raise hell about that,’ Murray, of the VFW, said.”
Inside the Beltway News
- Politico Morning Money E-Newsletter
August 15th section header: “ICYMI: WH Looks to Ease Military Lending Rules”
August 16th section header: “Dems Urge Mulvaney to Protect Military Borrowers” - The Hill: Trump administration mulls changes to financial protections for military members: report
Finance, Government, and Consumer News
- American Banker: Senate Dems to CFPB’s Mulvaney: Don’t end military lending exams
Article also ran in the Credit Union Journal - Government Executive: A Rollback of Military Financial Protections, a Per Diem Increase for Feds, and More
- Consumer Affairs: Consumer agency ending routine audits of lenders [for MLA violations]
- Housing Wire: Senate Democrats push CFPB to retain oversight of military lending