Iowans tell Senators to stop coddling predatory lenders and blocking consumer financial protections

Senator Grassley - stand with consumers!

That was the message of petitions delivered to Senator Grassley on May 2nd by a delegation of Iowans. The petitions, which call on the Senate to confirm Richard Cordray to a full term as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), bore the signatures of more than 160,000 people, including 1,229 citizens living in Iowa.“Senators have a simple choice: they can bring this nomination to a vote, or they can do the bidding of the Wall Street lobbyists and shady lenders who have been trying to undermine the CFPB ever since they failed to prevent its creation,” said Iowa PIRG Advocate, Sonia Ashe.After favorable action by the Banking Committee, Cordray’s re-nomination goes before the full Senate. Director Cordray has earned wide and bipartisan praise for his leadership of the CFPB up to now. Unfortunately for the citizens of Iowa however, Senator Grassley has joined a bloc of 43 Senators who are threatening to bottle up this nomination indefinitely, unless the CFPB is first dramatically weakened."The CFPB is the only regulator looking out for everyday people," said Matthew Covington with Iowa CCI. "They are not some radical rogue agency, and Senators shouldn't be playing politics on this issue. Americans deserve a fully functioning CFPB if for nothing else than to prevent another Great Recession caused by rampant Wall St. greed."The CFPB was created after the financial crisis of 2008 to end predatory lending and bring basic standards of fairness and transparency to the world of credit cards, mortgages, payday lending, student loans, auto loans, debt collection, credit scoring and other financial products and practices.Here’s just some of what this new agency has already done:• Returned nearly half a billion dollars to consumers cheated by credit card companies;• Moved to end the era of mortgages designed to rake in up-front fees before they self-destruct;• Stood up for students and families trapped in high-cost private education loans; and deceptive lending practices; and• Protected military families against illegal foreclosures and deceptive lending practices