By the Collections Agitator
The 2020 Presidential Election and Consumer Protections
To date, neither the Democratic nor GOP presidential candidate has spoken directly about consumer protections or the FDCPA specifically. However, their public record on voting, support, and or undermining regulation and enforcement lends insight into what we might expect from the election winner.
Yes, we know past behavior is not a crystal ball that can be relied upon 100% of the time as a predictor of future actions however…
Let’s take a brief and finite look at Biden’s voting record on consumer Bankruptcy protection and Trump’s posture on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). When President Obama signed the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act into law in response to the financial meltdown of 2008: it also birthed the CFPB. The CFPB was created as a single point of accountability for enforcing federal consumer protection statutes. Before the CFPB, accountability and enforcement were scattered across government agencies.
Luke Darby’s October 23, 2019, GQ magazine piece titled “How Biden Helped Strip Bankruptcy Protection From Millions Just Before a Recession,” cites Vox’s “The 20-year argument between Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren over bankruptcy, explained,” in 2005 Biden voted yes on the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA), siding with the credit industry to limit consumer access to bankruptcy protections that business (and billionaires) continue to enjoy. Senator Elizabeth Warren was so disturbed by Joe’s support for the bill that it spurred her to action. After the bill’s passage, Warren left her position as a Harvard Bankruptcy Law Professor to champion consumer rights. “I got in the fight because [families] just didn’t have anyone, and Joe Biden was on the side of the credit card companies. It’s all a matter of public record.” The article further suggests that Biden is beholden to the many corporations chartered in his tax haven home state of Delaware, than to his resident constituents.
Biden felt, while not perfect, the new bankruptcy bill included some safeguards for low-income households and reduced interest rates. His support BAPCPA was in opposition to his future running mate Barack Obama. It is important to note that since spring 2020, Joe Biden now endorses a robust CFPB, including stricter oversight of discriminatory consumer lending practices. Some of the consumer protections his former rival, Senator Warren, has consistently championed.
Some notable consumer protection triumphs under the Obama-Biden administration include:
Consumer Finance– Ensuring Payday Lenders, Debt Collectors, and other non-banks comply with consumer protection laws.
Mortgage Disclosures-“Know Before you Owe” simplifies consumer mortgage documents and enables consumer understanding of competing offerings.
Service members – help manage their unique financial circumstances with safeguards against abuse.
Credit Cards– pushed to simplify applications, thus enabling consumers to understand better the fees and costs associated with consumer credit.
Meanwhile, the Executive branch’s lack of regulation enforcement has blunted the actions of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). A March 2019 Public Citizen published article reports a measurable decline in enforcement activity. When enforcement did take place, the levied penalty often failed to exceed $5000.00. Trump’s first two years in office saw a 50 percent enforcement decline.
Renae Merle and Tracy Jan’s, March 2018 Washington Post article, titled Trump is Systematically Backing Off Consumer Protections, to the Delight of Corporations, details the administration’s enforcement inaction and paltry fines levied against corporate violators. In fact, in the President’s 2019 budget proposal, the CFPB’s funding was significantly underfunded compared to previous years, thus reducing its enforcement capacity “to prevent actions that unduly burden the financial industry and limit consumer choice.” On-going investigations into predatory business activities like those of the payday lenders were scrapped after the previous administration’s initial actions.
While interim head of the CFPB, Mick Mulvaney called the bureau a “joke” in November 2017. Mulvaney, the former White House Budget Director, has compared government regulations to “slow cancer.” The Public Citizen’s (April 2017) article, Trump’s First 100 Days: Unprecedented Deregulatory Giveaways to Corporations, details the administration’s rapid rollbacks of consumer protections adopted, enhanced, and enforced under prior administrations.
The U.S. President’s beliefs, actions, and perspectives impact which government agencies exists, what, if any, enforcement power they have, and the focus of those agencies during their tenure.
BWBC shares this very brief and precise look at the 2020 Presidential Candidates’ actions on consumer protections. We invite and encourage you to conduct your research and reach your conclusions. Wherever you land as to whom would best protect your rights, interests, and property, please cast your vote. Your presidential selection, along with other down-ticket officeholders, impacts your entire wellbeing.
Your immediate tasks: Research the candidates and vote – via drop-off, mail-in, or in person.