Consumer Protection

Education can only be the Great Equalizer when access to it is universal. In an era of already high and continually rising tuition prices, student loans provide access to higher education for not just low-income, but increasingly middle- and upper-income families. Higher Education is directly correlated with higher pay, better quality of life, and just about every measurement you can dream up. Yet, our student loan system is wrought with deep problems:

As Illinois Legislators return to Springfield for the lame duck session, we are looking ahead to the 2013 legislative session. 1 in 4 Illinois households are asset poor and 1 in 2 households of color are asset poor – meaning they don’t have enough savings to support themselves during times of financial hardship. We believe that all people deserve access to the tools they need to build financially secure lives and in 2013 we will be working to make this a reality.

Earlier this week City of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel announced two new initiatives aimed at protecting city residents from dangerous financial products and practices. The first was a new partnership with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Demystifying Prepaid Cards Workshop  - Friday November 16th 8:15 am – 9:30 am

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)  released "Examination Procedures: Short-term, Small Dollar Lending," (pdf) which are guidelines for examining small dollar loan products. The guidelines are written for financial institution examiners, but offer insight into the CFPB's expectations for five key areas affecting small dollar lending:

This legislative season there are a number of asset building and asset protection bills before the Illinois General Assembly. Here's our March Legislative Update:

Last week, the Woodstock Institute released their report "Struggling to Stay Afloat: Negative Equity in Communities of Color in the Chicago Six County Region." The report found that Chicago homeowners with mortgages in predominantly African American neighborhoods are twice as likely to be underwater than homeowners with mortgages in predominantly whit

A Chicago ordinance that targets predatory tax preparers will help low-income workers keep more of their income -- hopefully before this tax season ends.

Yesterday, President Obama made a recess appoinment placing Richard Cordray as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Community Groups across the country, including the Illinois Asset Building Group (a project of Heartland Alliance), have been fighting the payday loan industry. We call them sharks. They’re a predatory industry. An industry outside of mainstream banks and other financial institutions.

But what if we were wrong?