WASHINGTON–All Senate Democrats plus Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have signed a joint letter objecting to plans by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection to stop supervising lending made to active duty service members.
As CUToday.info reported earlier, the BCFP has indicated plans to dial back enforcement of the Military Lending Act. Under the proposed changes, the BCFP said it would rely solely on complaints from service members and their families to trigger investigations.
The BCFP’s acting director Mick Mulvaney indicated he believes the Bureau has overstepped its authority by proactively looking into cases against military members without receiving complaints.
How the Letter Reads
The Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), along with 48 other senators, sent the letter, which reads in part, “We write regarding reports that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will no longer protect servicemembers and their families by including the Military Lending Act (MLA) as part of the CFPB’s routine lender examinations due to a purported lack of authority. These reports are puzzling because the CFPB already possesses the authority to enforce the MLA and examine many types of lenders for the purposes of ‘detecting and assessing risks to consumers and to markets for consumer financial products and services.’
“The CFPB should not be abandoning its duty to protect our servicemembers and their families, and we seek your commitment that you will utilize all of the authorities available to the CFPB to ensure that servicemembers and their families continue to receive all of their MLA protections.”