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ALTERNATIVE FINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS ASSOCIATION
NEWS: May 10 NEWS is brought to you by AFSPA Endorsed SUPPLIERS |
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Banks Line Up To Challenge CFPB
Things are getting tougher for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under the new political administration. More banks are now willing to challenge CFPB enforcement actions, said The Wall Street Journal.
The CFPB has reportedly announced some 21 enforcement actions in 2017, one-third of which have been challenged, the organization reportedly said. This already exceeds the total number of challenges the CFPB saw across 2016.
The current political administration is in the process of scrutinizing the organization and working to scale back or entirely eliminate the effects of Dodd-Frank. The fate of the CFPB structure is slated to be decided on by the Washington full appellate court this month.
The controversial U.S. government agency, authorized by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed in 2010 under the Obama administration, and its director Richard Cordray have been criticized for overextending their authority.
"We are seeing more resistance to CFPB actions," Joseph Rubin, a senior counsel at Arnall Golden Gregory who advises clients on regulatory matters, told WSJ. "We anticipate that as it gets closer to the end of Cordray's term, the CFPB may find it more difficult to obtain quick consent orders from financial institutions."
Cordray's term reportedly ends in July of 2018.
Despite the multiple moves against it, the CFPB doesn't look to change the way it works while it can help it.
"We remain focused on carrying out our mission, and we will take action where necessary to enforce the law and achieve relief for harmed consumers," Samuel Gilford, a CFPB spokesman, was quoted as saying.
One CFPB challenger is Navient, the largest servicer of federal and private student loans in the United States.
Read more at PYMNTS.COM
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TEXAS: Councilmen give payday loan sermons to pastor
The Abilene City Council recently listened for hours to people for and against putting limits on payday loans, which, on the plus side, can put cash in the hands of poor people but on the minus side can drown them in financial quicksand.
Eventually the council voted against setting regulations.
First, though, lots of residents spoke, many in green T-shirts to show they were for the regulation, or white ones to show they were against.
Lots of Christians were in the room. Pastors of four big churches sat together. One got up to speak.
"What is the city responsible for?" he asked. "We keep using the word 'community.' How are we defining that? Yes, it's roads, but it's also relationships. I don't think any of us want to demonize anybody. We've had enough of that in our country. There are good people trying to help other people. We're not really challenging the people, and even people who maybe try to make the loan to other people. It's a system. It's a broken system, is what it is."
Read more at ABILENE REPORTER
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U.S. Bank Survey: Times Are Good for Small Business Owners
8th annual Small Business survey shows companies are growing, but struggle to find workers
MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Business owners are more optimistic than any time in the eight year history of the U.S. Bank Small Business Annual Survey.
Times are good and they're getting better, although there are still challenges ahead, according to the survey. Owners are seeing revenue growth, preparing for capital investments and modestly adding staff, even though 61 percent report having difficulty finding quality employees.
"Business owners are gaining confidence in the economy. For most owners, the recession is long over and now they're making plans to expand," said John Elmore, vice chairman of Consumer and Business Banking at U.S. Bank.
The positive sentiment is exemplified by the owners' self-assessment: 80 percent of those surveyed describe their own business as strong, another historical high for the survey. In addition, 38 percent report higher revenues, more than at any time in the past eight years.
With the 2016 election complete, 18 percent of small business owners feel that the economy is in an expansion, up from 9 percent a year ago. Owners expect the trend to continue, with 28 percent predicting the economy will be in an expansion by early 2018.
Four out of 10 owners said they plan to make a capital expenditure to expand their business in the next year. One fourth also expect to increase their staff, despite the challenge of finding skilled workers.
Read more at US BANK
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Amscot Joins Local Elementary School for Event Honoring the Memory of an Apopka Boy Killed in Cycling Accident
Apopka, FL -
Phillis Wheatley Elementary will hold a special memorial event during National Bike to School Day on Wednesday, May 10th. The event will honor the memory of Camari Dennison, a local boy who recently died following a cycling accident.
The event will also spotlight the importance of bike safety, and
Amscot
will be on hand to fit all kindergarten bike riders with free helmets.
The event will incorporate several activities, including a poem reading by the school's kindergarten class and a tree dedication where Mayor Joe Kilsheimer will present a plaque to the Dennison family honoring the memory of Camari. Camari's mother, Monica Zow, will say a few words.
"We encourage everyone in the community to support the Dennison family and Phillis Wheatley Elementary as they try to reach more kids on the importance of bike safety," says Ian MacKechnie,
Amscot's
founder, chairman and CEO.
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MISSOURI: Bill attempting to cap the interest rates charged by payday lenders will have to wait until next year.
Rep. Lynn Morris says his bill attempting to cap the interest rates charged by payday lenders will have to wait until next year.
Morris, a Republican from Ozark, spoke in Springfield Friday a week before lawmakers end this year's legislative session. His bill would place a cap of 36 percent on what payday and title loaners can charge customers.
"It's going to take more than a year to pass this bill, but what I promise to you all is I will make this one of my priorities."
About two dozen people attended Friday's event at University Baptist Heights Church, sponsored by Faith Voices of Southwest Missouri. It aimed to shed light on the challenges payday lending can have on customers.
Kathy Lutz ended up taking out four such loans after severe health complications arose several years ago. The one word she used to describe her experience was "hopeless."
"Once you get piled in, there's virtually no way to get out. Unless you win a big lottery, you're kind of trapped in the dead cycle, and it just seems to spiral in and get worse and worse and never better."
She said one loan for $934 ended up costing her over $1,515 in interest alone, an annual rate of 155 percent.
Read more at KSMU
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TEXAS: Bills filed to prevent cities from regulating payday lenders
Brownsville is one of more than 40 communities in Texas that have passed a "uniform ordinance" to curb certain practices of the payday/auto title loan industry within city limits.
However, a recently filed piece of legislation, House Bill 3081, would strip communities' right to wield that authority. Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, sponsored
the legislation, which would make payday/auto title lenders subject to federal and state law only.
Brownsville's ordinance was passed in October 2014 and is based on an identical ordinance adopted by Dallas in 2011. The Dallas ordinance withstood an initial legal challenge and later an appeal by the industry to have it overturned.
Critics of the industry say its business model is intentionally set up to trap customers in a cycle of debt via exorbitant fees that force them to refinance. The uniform ordinance limits payday loans to 20 percent of the borrower's gross monthly income, and auto title loans to 3 percent of annual gross income or 70 percent of the vehicle's value, whichever is less.
The ordinance also limits loans to four payments, whether installment payments or "rollovers." Each payment must pay down the original principal by 25 percent in order to pay down the full amount of the loan in four payments, according to the ordinance.
Traci Wickett, executive director of United Way of Southern Cameron County, said the ordinance is aimed at addressing the most egregious practices of payday/auto title lenders.
She cited a study of payday lending activity in 2015 showing that in the Brownsville "metropolitan statistical area" alone, new loans accounted for $20 million in revenue, fees of $19.5 million, and $35 million in refinancing, while 15 cars a week were repossessed by auto title lenders.
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Prepared Remarks of Richard Cordray, Director CFPB
Small Business Lending Field Hearing
Los Angeles, Calif. May 10, 2017
Thank you all for coming. It is good to be here again in Los Angeles. Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is announcing an inquiry into ways to collect and publish information about the financing and credit needs of small businesses, especially those owned by women and minorities. We are well aware of the key role they play in our lives. Small businesses help drive America's economic engine by creating jobs and nurturing local communities. It is estimated that they have created two out of every three jobs since 1993 and now provide work for almost half of all employees in the private sector. Yet we perceive large gaps in the public's understanding of how well the financing and credit needs of these entrepreneurs are being served.
As you probably know, Congress provided the Consumer Bureau with certain responsibilities in the area of small business lending. And there is a strong logic behind this. When I served as the Ohio Attorney General, we recognized the need to protect small businesses and nonprofit organizations by accepting and handling complaints on their behalf, just as we did for individual consumers - an approach that proved to be very productive. In addition, the line between consumer finance and small business finance is quite blurred. More than 22 million Americans are small business owners and have no employees. And, according to data from the Federal Reserve, almost two-thirds of them rely on their business as their primary source of income.
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ALTERNATIVE FINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS ASSOCIATION
AFSPA helps our members grow their Alternative Financial Services business by providing them with the best information, research, data, support, relationships and by vetting and presenting the best available product and service providers for the Alternative Financial Services Industry.
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