(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) joined Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) and 64 additional Members of Congress in calling out the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for rolling back protections that prevent debt collectors from harassing Americans. 

“Debt collectors today use the exact same excuses I heard from mortgage lenders in the years leading up to the financial crisis, and we know how that turned out,” Congresswoman Porter said. “Instead of serving as a watchdog for consumers, the CFPB has shown again that it would rather let corporate abuse go unchecked. I’m proud to lead 65 of my colleagues in demanding that the Trump Administration do its job to protect consumers from abusive debt collection practices.”

Debt collection is one of the leading sources of consumer complaints. The National Consumer Law Center reported that in California alone, consumers filed 69,615 complaints about abusive debt collection practices. Under a newly proposed rule from the Trump Administration, debt collectors would be allowed to call up seven times per week per debt, text and email without clear limits, and decline to translate important notices into consumers’ preferred language.

In a letter to CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger, the 66 Representatives write, “The Bureau has the authority to stand up for consumers and rein in the worst practices of one of the leading sources of consumer complaints: debt collection. Yet, the Bureau has proposed changes to the law that will fail to constrain collectors’ harmful behaviors in any meaningful way—and may make them worse.”

Read the letter to Director Kraninger HERE.

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