Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA-43), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, expressed support for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's announcement that it would take legal action against Corinthian Colleges, Inc. for its predatory lending practices. Upon hearing the news, Rep. Waters reiterated her support for an unqualified ability for all students enrolled at Corinthian to withdraw and receive a refund. Currently, unqualified refunds are only provided to a small gr... Read more

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday it was filing a lawsuit against Corinthian Colleges Inc., saying that its education services were little more than a scam to bilk unsuspecting would-be students. "We believe Corinthian lured consumers into predatory loans by lying about their future job prospects, and then used illegal debt collection tactics to strong-arm students at school. We want to put an end to these predatory practices and get relief for the students who are beari... Read more

The head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had several testy exchanges with House Republicans on Wednesday at a hearing held to examine allegations of discrimination and retaliation at the consumer agency. CFPB Director Richard Cordray appeared before the House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee to address charges that have surfaced in recent months of discriminatory management practices at the agency. The issue first caught the attention of lawmakers earlier ... Read more

Following allegations of discrimination and unfair treatment of women at Goldman Sachs Group, and in light of a continuing examination of similar claims at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), two senior Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee are calling on Republican leadership to examine the matter. In a letter to Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) and Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Chair of the Oversight and Investigations (OI) Subcommittee, Ranking Members M... Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the fourth anniversary of the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) released a Democratic staff report that documents the important progress regulators have made in implementing Dodd-Frank, as well as the unyielding Republican effort to undercut it. The report highlights the significant milestones achieved by regulators, while underscoring there is much more to do. It provid... Read more

As the House of Representatives considers the harmful Republican financial services and general government appropriations proposal, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, offered three amendments designed to provide adequate resources to our financial regulators. The amendments build off concerns raised by Waters last week, when she criticized Republicans for attempting to use an appropriations measure to make controversial legislative changes t... Read more

As the House of Representatives moves toward consideration of a financial services spending bill, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, criticized Republicans for attempting to use an appropriations measure to make controversial legislative changes that would undermine consumer protection, weaken important Wall Street reforms and hurt regulators’ ability to protect our economy. In a letter to Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), Chairman of the House Rules... Read more

WASHINGTON — Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is warning that a key House appropriations bill soon to be considered by the full chamber could hurt the ability of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators to oversee the financial services industry. Legislation to fund the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Small Business Administration and several other agencies is expected to proceed to the House floor in coming days after being considered by the Ru... Read more

At today’s full committee hearing to discuss the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) highlighted the important work of the Council in identifying systemic risk and protecting American homeowners, consumers, and the economy. Specifically, the Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services reminded FSOC’s critics that a contributing factor to the severity of the crisis was a lack of oversight throughout the entire... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, commended Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray for the Bureau’s significant accomplishments in protecting our nation’s consumers and service members who have been victimized by unscrupulous corporations and financial institutions. At today’s full committee hearing to discuss “The Semi-Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” Waters cited the impr... Read more

In today’s full Committee markup, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, blasted Republicans for continuing to waste the Committee’s time and resources on measures that weaken important consumer protections, undo transparency and accountability measures for Wall Street’s biggest actors and carve out major exceptions for large public companies. Waters criticized Republicans for continuing to delay consideration of reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Ins... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, gave the following remarks at today’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing to discuss “Allegations of Discrimination and Retaliation within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.” At the hearing, Waters continued to underscore the seriousness of the allegations at the CFPB, and again called on Republicans to commit to addressing similar issues at all federal financial regulators. Waters also ackno... Read more

Following today’s report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finding that consumers’ credit scores may be overly penalized for medical debt, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, welcomed the Bureau’s findings and called upon Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling to hold a hearing on the issue, and on legislation Waters has introduced to address the problem. Waters released the following statement. “I welcome today’s report by the Consumer Fi... Read more

At today’s Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing to discuss allegations of discrimination and retaliation at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Congressman Al Green (D-TX) expressed serious concern over the revelations of the witnesses and underscored the need for senior Bureau officials to come before the Committee and testify. At the hearing, Waters expressed her concern that inviting a witness with a pendi... Read more

Lawmakers call for hearing to be cancelled Following the announcement that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) will not participate in a House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing to discuss ongoing claims of a single employee, two key Democratic members have raised concerns about the repercussions of holding such a hearing. In a letter to Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Reps. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and... Read more

Subcommittee on Oversight asks inspectors general to review workplace discrimination Democratic members of the Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations have called on inspectors general at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and all other financial regulators to assess whether any personnel practices and policies have created an unfair or discriminatory workplace for minorities and women employees. The requests were conveyed in a series of letters led... Read more

In today’s Financial Services Committee hearing on “Why Debt Matters,” Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA), underscored the importance of promoting growth and reducing income inequality through short-term increases in discretionary fiscal stimulus in order to reduce the nation’s debt and deficit. In her remarks, Waters criticized austerity measures such as the Sequester for impeding economic growth – particularly during a recession. She also pointed to the obvious political motivation behind the... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, today gave the following opening statement at today’s full committee markup of five bills intended to promote economic growth and the majority’s Budget Views and Estimates for fiscal year 2015. Her remarks are below. ) As prepared for delivery: Thank you Mr. Chairman. Promoting economic growth and reducing income inequality are critically important to ensure opportunity for every American. Today we are ... Read more

As part of a hearing to investigate data security following breaches at large commercial retailers, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, pointed to the emerging epidemic of cyber crimes and called on legislators to ensure the safety and security of critical consumer financial information. Waters raised concerns about the frequency of data breaches and the length of time they often go undetected. She also called on law enforcement, regulators and... Read more

Waters leads effort to oppose measure weakening CFPB Today, the Republican-led House of Representatives approved H.R. 3193, legislation that would undermine consumer protection by weakening the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability to be an effective, independent advocate for consumers. Democratic opposition was led by Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee. Waters condemned the legislation for making drastic changes that weaken the B... Read more

Following widespread concern over the actions of a number of independent mortgage servicers, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, has called on government regulators to take action that will protect homeowners from abuses that have led to stalled modifications, excess fees and even foreclosure. In a letter to Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry and Monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement (Settlement) Joseph Smith, Waters urged careful scr... Read more

Representative Maxine Waters of California is urging federal banking regulators to scrutinize the sale of billions of dollars of mortgage-servicing rights to a fleet of specialty firms, a move that comes amid mounting concerns that some of the most vulnerable homeowners are facing fresh abuses in battles to save their homes. For some Americans whose home values plummeted in the depths of the financial crisis, those battles, alternating between hope and despair, have lasted for years. And now, mo... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, commended Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray for the Bureau’s significant accomplishments in protecting our nation’s consumers and service members who have been victimized by unscrupulous corporations and financial institutions. At today’s full committee hearing to discuss “The Semi-Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” Waters cited the impressive ... Read more

At a Financial Services Committee markup of six bills designed to undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee, blasted the measures as efforts to weaken CFPB’s ability to be an effective, independent advocate for consumers. Waters highlighted the CFPB’s remarkable record of success in just over two years, pointing to enforcement actions that have resulted in $750 million being directly refunded to over 7.9 million... Read more

As many employees prepare to miss their first paycheck as a result of the Federal Government shutdown, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, lauded the action of five federal financial services agencies that today called on financial institutions to work with customers that have been affected. In a letter to the heads of the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Comptroller of the Curr... Read more