Americans for Fairness in Lending |Take Action

Tell Congress to Create a Consumer Watchdog Agency

To: The U.S. Senate and The U.S. House

Started by: Americans for Fairness in Lending

The renegade lending industry has brought our economy into the worst recession since the Great Depression. But now there's a chance to fix our broken system. Congress is considering creating a Consumer Watchdog agency!

Right now, no government regulator has consumer protection as its main mission. A Consumer Watchdog agency would exist just for this purpose, and would regulate credit cards, mortgages, small loans, and other financial products.

The need for a Consumer Watchdog agency is all too clear. One in five subprime mortgages will end with the family losing their home. The government would never let stores sell toasters that had a one in five chance of bursting into flames and burning down your house. Why should mortgages be any different, especially when so much is at stake?

A Consumer Watchdog agency would ban products that don't meet safety requirements, and ensure a level playing field between lenders and borrowers. For more information about an agency like this, please click here.

The system we have now isn't working! Tell Congress to create a Consumer Watchdog agency!

(Photo: bfraz)

Sign the Letter

Create a Consumer Watchdog Agency

Dear Representative,

Please support H.R. 1705/S. 566 to create a Financial Product Safety Commission which would oversee consumer financial products. The current system of oversight clearly isn't working. Consumer financial products need to be effectively regulated, just as drugs, toys, and toasters are. As Professor Elizabeth Warren puts it, "It is impossible to buy a toaster that has a one-in-five chance of bursting into flames and burning down your house. But it is possible to refinance an existing home with a mortgage that has the same one-in-five chance of putting the family out on the street - and the mortgage won't even carry a disclosure of that fact to the homeowner." This has got to change. * A Consumer Watchdog agency like a Financial Product Safety Commission would have consumer financial protection as its main mission, and it would prevent lenders from "shopping around" for the regulator with the loosest standards. Since all lenders would be subject to the FPSC, this agency wouldn�t be incentivized to loosen its standards to attract more lenders and the dues they pay. * An FPSC would also stay on top of market innovation, responding more quickly and effectively to newly emerging products and practices. This would help ensure better consumer protection and create a more stable economy. * An FPSC could have outlawed many of the features which made toxic mortgages so dangerous, such as prepayment penalties. Without these loans, the "mortgage-backed securities" which brought down our economy would not have existed. Please create a Consumer Watchdog agency like a Financial Product Safety Commission for the sake of individual consumers and the economy as a whole.

[Your name here]

Sorry, the time period for signing this petition has ended.

Ani L. Schwartz Arroyo Seco, NM

Sent letter to Jeff Bingaman , Ben Lujan and Tom Udall

Sep 09
David Watters Mundelein, IL

Sent letter to Melissa Bean , Mark Kirk , Dick Durbin and Roland Burris

Aug 27
Kimberly Tilley Mountain Home AFB, ID

Sent letter to Mike Simpson , Mike Crapo and Jim Risch

Aug 09
Kathleen Roby, MEd Corning, OH

Sent letter to Sherrod Brown , George Voinovich and Steve Austria

Jul 31
Laura Jaramillo Bogotá, Colombia

Sent letter to Mark Udall and Michael Bennet

Jul 28
pamlynn montgomery norcross, GA

Sent letter to John Linder , Johnny Isakson , Saxby Chambliss and Hank Johnson

Jul 19
Veronica Franco San Antonio, TX

Sent letter to Charlie Gonzalez , Lamar Smith , Kay Hutchison and John Cornyn

Jul 16
Rebecca Schneider Chandler, AZ

Sent letter to Jeff Flake , Harry Mitchell , John McCain and Jon Kyl

Jul 15
Deborah Foster Cottage Grove, MN

Sent letter to Amy Klobuchar , John Kline and Betty McCollum

Jul 15
Ann Fonfa Delray Beach, FL

Sent letter to Bob Wexler , Alcee Hastings , Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson

Jul 15