Sen. Sherrod Brown Spotlights CFPB’s Work for Servicemembers

“One of the most important things the CFPB does is protect servicemembers and veterans,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, in his opening statement at a Nov. 2 hearing on financial protections for servicemembers and their families.

Brown pointed to a 2006 Department of Defense report showing that payday, auto title, and other lenders were using deceptive practices to sell servicemembers loans with interest rates as high as 100 percent.

“It was clear we needed an agency that would take on these special interests to protect the bank accounts and the jobs of our servicemembers, veterans, and their families,” said Brown.

And that’s exactly what the CFPB has been doing since its inception in 2011.

“Every year, tens of thousands of servicemembers go to the CFPB seeking assistance or reporting a complaint—and the CFPB goes to bat for them, working to get their money back or fix the problem,” said Brown.

CFPB has returned more than $175 million to servicemembers through 39 enforcement actions. Earlier this year, the CFPB found that TitleMax violated the Military Lending Act by extending prohibited title loans to military families and charging nearly three times over the 36 percent annual interest rate cap. TitleMax was forced to stop its illegal activity and pay more than $5 million to those impacted.

“You really cannot say you support veterans, you support servicemembers while trying to tear down the CFPB,” Brown said.

NTEU joins the country in honoring those who have served and we are proud to represent around 1,000 frontline CFPB employees who provide critical help to our nation’s veterans. Learn more about CFPB’s work