A Message from Rich Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:

A message from Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Tell the CFPB your story at consumerfinance.gov

Transcript:

Hello. I'm Richard Cordray. As the new Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and as someone who has been helping to build the Bureau for some time, I want to tell you that it's an extraordinary privilege for me to work on behalf of American consumers. Consumers like you. Our team at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been answering calls and reading stories from hundreds of American consumers every week. Their stories illustrate the kinds of issues people are dealing with around the country. You can tell us your story at consumerfinance.gov. We've heard from people like Rebecca from North Carolina. She told us she missed a mortgage payment nine months after her husband lost his job. In the two years since then, her mortgage servicer has increased her payments even though she entered a trial modification in an effort to lower her monthly payments. The servicer has charged her monthly fees for services that she never asked for and she believes have never occurred, all while repeatedly threatening her with foreclosure unless she shells out more money in unexplained fees. Rebecca has frantically complied with all of these demands because she is afraid of losing her home and so is doing whatever she can to stay in her home. The stakes are high. Consumers need to be able to fully understand the costs and risks of borrowing and they need to be able to comparison shop for the best deal. Consumers deserve to have someone who will stand on their side, who will protect them against fraud, and who will ensure they are treated fairly. The new Consumer Bureau was created to make sure that these things are achieved for all Americans. The good news is that we have already gotten started. Over time, we'll judge the success of our efforts by whether consumers are being treated more fairly and with more clarity and candor in the financial marketplace. The financial marketplace can be an arena that helps people find and seize opportunity, not condemn them to bewildering failure. By working every day to protect consumers, we will help to fashion a more resilient economy and a stronger country. Join us; work with us; help us make it so. Visit consumerfinance.gov, and tell us your story today.