Dodd-Frank News Center

CFPB blog post addresses myths in military community about personal finance

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

Noting that the CFPB’s Office of Servicemember Affairs’ has engaged with military families throughout the country and even the world” over the past eight years and that its members” have heard lots of barracks rumors and scuttlebutt,” a Bureau blog post addresses five myths in the military community regarding personal finance. The five myths the post discusses are: (1) credit card companies are required to waive annual fees for servicemembers; (2) the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act only helps servicemembers by lowering interest rates; (3) the Military Lending Act doesn’t protect servicemembers’ spouses or dependent children; (4) servicemembers need to pay someone to help them with their financial issues; and (5) financial issues are too complicated for the average person.

 

CFPB's latest complaint snapshot focuses on complaints by servicemembers and veterans

This story appeared in Bank Digest.                                   

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued its latest complaint snapshot, which focuses on complaints submitted by servicemembers, veterans, and military families in 2018. A Bureau blog post said the report gives a national overview of servicemember complaints and also provides complaint information by state.

According to the report, the top five products by complaint volume for 2018, respectively, were complaints relating to: (1) credit or consumer reporting; (2) debt collection; (3) mortgages; (4) credit cards; and (5) checking or savings accounts.

New protections for servicemembers highlighted in CFPB blog post

This story appeared in Bank Digest.                                   

A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau blog post discusses new legal protections for servicemembers and veterans and when they go into effect. Some took effect last year.

Specifically, the authors discuss: (1) new requirements for Department of Veterans Affairs loan refinancing; (2) foreclosure protections for active-duty servicemembers and those recently separated from active duty; (3) greater credit reporting protections for veterans on certain medical debts; and (4) free electronic credit monitoring for active duty servicemembers.

CFPB requests authority to supervise for compliance with Military Lending Act

This story appeared in Bank Digest.                                   

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathleen L. Kraninger has asked Congress to grant the Bureau clear authority to supervise for compliance with the Military Lending Act. The Bureau transmitted a legislative proposal requesting such authority to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the vice president in his capacity as president of the Senate.

In a statement, Kraninger said she had "asked Congress to explicitly grant the Bureau authority to conduct examinations specifically intended to review compliance with the MLA. The requested authority would complement the work the Bureau currently does to enforce the MLA." Kraninger noted that she was "pleased to see legislation proposed recently in the House of Representatives (H.R. 442) that is intended to grant the Bureau such authority."

CFPB blog post addresses challenges of servicemembers with student loans

This story appeared in Bank Digest.                                   

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Student Loan Ombudsman Seth Frotman and CFPB Assistant Director for the Office for Servicemembers Affairs Paul Kantwill have written a blog post addressing some of the challenges servicemembers with student loans face. According to the post, servicemembers sometimes have difficulty accessing protections like Public Service Loan Forgiveness and getting into income-driven repayment plans.                                  

Instead, student loan servicers sometimes "steer them toward options like military deferment or forbearance," which provide short-term payment relief but "can increase the overall cost of student loans and delay access to loan forgiveness options available through IDR or PSLF."                                   

The post describes certain rights military borrowers may have, such as eligibility for interest rate protections on loans taken out before they entered military service and having the balance of their federal student loans forgiven after 10 years of working in public service.

Measure introduced to extend foreclosure protection for military homeowners

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

To prevent a pending expiration of foreclosure protection for military homeowners, Reps. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn) and Denny Heck (D-Wash) have introduced the Stability for Servicemembers Act. Currently, the law protects servicemembers from foreclosure for one year after they leave active duty, but it is set to expire at the end of 2014. The Stability for Servicemembers Act extends the one-year foreclosure prevention measure through Dec. 31, 2015.