Dear Friends:

       As a Senior Member of the House Financial Services Committee, one of my highest priorities is to increase transparency in the financial marketplace. It’s true: Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

       I was proud to fight for inclusion of a strong Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the landmark Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  The CFPB will increase disclosure by banks and other business offering financial products to consumers.  For instance, with home mortgages, banks hid fees and composed terms so confusing that a team of attorneys couldn’t understand them. The sub-prime mortgage crisis, as well as the waves of defaults and foreclosures that occurred nationwide, painfully illustrated those abuses.

       But the CFPB just released a prototype of a new mortgage term-sheet.  In plain terms, this form explains in clear language the terms of the loan:  what you’ll pay each month, what the interest will be.  The new term sheet also has a specific section that will alert borrowers to balloon payments and interest-rate increases that could occur in the future.  You can check out the new proposed sheets on my website.

       These new mortgage-term sheets are a critical step that will shine sunlight on the mortgage industry.  This is a positive sign of things to come from a robust CFPB.  Lately though, the House Majority has inexplicably mounted a misinformation campaign against the agency and its mission: to be the cop on the beat looking out for your interests as consumers. The Majority has overstated how much power the CFPB has to regulate the industry, and has even proposed to weaken the agency by adding another layer of bureaucratic red tape, making it much harder for the CFPB to issue consumer-protection rules.

       I strongly support the CFPB’s mission, and I am optimistic about the agency’s ability to protect consumers. However, I am deeply troubled that the CFPB’s critics are trying to undermine its efforts to defend consumers. I look forward to sharing more good news for consumers with you in the future.

Sincerely,

Gary L. Ackerman