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Legislation CenterThe following bills pending in the 110th Congress are among the most important designed to end unfair and abusive lending practices. For each bill, we offer up-to-date information about its status and links to comments and action alerts by our Partner organizations.S.3629 A bill to create a new Consumer Credit Safety Commission Read about the Legislative Process on Consumer Action's website. S.3629 A bill to create a new Consumer Credit Safety Commission
AFFIL Partner Perspectives Full bill, co-sponsors and more from Thomas S.3252 Credit CARD Act of 2008
AFFIL Partner Perspectives Read more S.2636 The Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008
AFFIL Partner Perspectives Partner Coalition letter, April 2, 2008 (PDF) "Senate Ignores Help for Homeowners, Bankruptcy Change the Most Effective Solution" Partner Coalition letter to Senator Reid supporting S.2636 "We are writing to commend you and your colleagues for recognizing the urgency of the housing foreclosure crisis facing this country and for proposing a comprehensive legislative approach to help stem it. We are supportive of S. 2636, the Foreclosure Prevention Act, and in particular want to emphasize our support for Title IV, which will allow for modification of home mortgages in bankruptcy." Press release from the Center for Responsible Lending "Compromise Bill Permits Court-Supervised Modifications, Would Save 600,000 Homes" Take action! Visit the National Community Reinvestment Coalition to tell the Senate to expand S.2636. Read more Full bill, co-sponsors and more from Thomas H.R.5244 The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights
AFFIL Partner Perspectives July 28, 2008, Consumers Union and Consumer Federation call on the committee to pass the bill: As a Congressional committee prepared for the first time ever to consider legislation that would curb predatory credit card lending practices, national consumer organizations today called on members of the House Financial Services Committee to support the bill and to send it to the House Floor for passage. May 13, 2008, Partners support the bill: We offer our strong support for H.R. 5244, the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act. H.R. 5244 rests on the basic rules of fair dealing that Americans expect everyone to play by. It curbs some of the most arbitrary, abusive, and unfair credit card lending practices that trap consumers in an unending cycle of costly debt. These tricks and traps have always been unfair, but now, at a time when consumers can least afford it, these practices produce devastating financial repercussions. Elizabeth Warren and other consumer advocates testify at Subcommittee hearings on H.R.5244: For too long, the most aggressive credit card issuers have had a free rein to craft new terms to ensnare unsuspecting customers. In the absence of baseline rules such as those proposed in H.R. 5244, some credit card issuers have boosted profits by developing new terms that are unfair, often devious, and sometimes legally deceptive. This is a hearing about banning those practices to ensure real freedom and competition in the credit card market.Read more Full bill, co-sponsors and more from Thomas H.R.3915 Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007
AFFIL Partner Perspectives National Consumer Law Center and other Partners oppose H.R. 3915 "We write to express our opposition to H.R. 3915, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory ending Act of 2007. We greatly appreciate efforts to reduce predatory lending and to restore balance to the mortgage market, however the bill will not stop predatory lending if it passes in its current form. Unfortunately, the weak remedies and damaging preemption The Center for Responsible Lending urges a stronger bill “We continue to have concerns about
key weaknesses in H.R. 3915, and we will be joining allies in urging the
Senate to pass a stronger bill. We must ensure that any final bill
protects state laws, holds Wall Street accountable for buying abusive loans,
and provides meaningful remedies for homeowners when brokers and lenders break
the law. We also need to close any loopholes that would allow lenders to
continue offering inappropriate products to families already burdened with
debt, such as "option" adjustable-rate mortgages. And we need
to ensure the bill has meaningful prohibitions on steering and the incentives
that contribute to broker abuses.” Read more Full bill, co-sponsors and more from Thomas S.2136 Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2007
H.R.3609 Emergency Home Ownership and Mortgage Equity Protection Act of 2007
AFFIL Partner Perspectives April 22, 2008 Coalition Letter (PDF) We, the undersigned organizations, strongly urge you to support the bipartisan substitute ersion of H.R. 3609, the “Emergency Home Ownership and Mortgage Equity Protection Act.” This legislation will help hundreds of thousands of families stay in their homes while Center for Responsible Lending H.R. 3609 “will prevent hundreds of thousands of Americans from losing their homes by allowing them access to bankruptcy relief.” Take Action! Take action through the Center for Responsible Lending. Read more Full bill, co-sponsors and more from Thomas S.1782 and H.R.3010 (Identical Bills) Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007Senate Side
House Side
AFFIL Partner Perspectives Public Citizen Sample Support Letter “I am writing to urge you to support the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007. This bill would help consumers by eliminating pre-dispute binding mandatory arbitration (BMA) clauses in consumer and employment contracts. Binding mandatory arbitration clauses in credit card, employment, and insurance contracts force individuals to forfeit their right to a trial by judge or jury if dangerous products, services or workplaces harm them. BMA does not help ordinary people, but benefits big corporate interests like national banks and insurance companies.” Take Action! Visit
Public Citizen to take action. Read more Full bill, co-sponsors and more from Thomas H.R.946 Consumer Overdraft Protection Fair Practices Act
AFFIL Partner Perspectives The
Center for Responsible Lending supports H.R.946 “Our nation's major banks and credit unions
are making unsolicited, high-cost loans to their checking account holders when
their account balance dips below zero, generating enormous fees for the banks
and frequently driving their customers deeper into the negative.” Read more from Open Congress Full bill, co-sponsors and more from Thomas |
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