Mulvaney & Schmidt: Bad for Seniors and Consumers, Great for Financial Scammers

Topeka Town Hall Featuring Kansas Attorney General and CFPB’s Acting Director Will Focus on Financial Scams Targeting Seniors, Likely Ignore Duo’s Record of Undermining Senior Protections

On Friday, June 8, 2018, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) “Acting Director” Mick Mulvaney and Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt will headline a town hall event at Washburn University’s KBI Laboratory Lecture Hall in Topeka, Kansas. The event will focus on the financial exploitation of seniors and like ignore the duo’s respective track records of working to undermine efforts to protect seniors from financial scammers.


Consumer Protection Issues for Older Americans

Mulvaney Puts Retirement Savings in Jeopardy 

  • The Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, which is supported by the AARP, protects older consumers by requiring financial advisors to act in their clients’ best interests when offering guidance on retirement plans. The AARP warned that eliminating the Obama-era rule would allow bankers to advise older consumers “‘based on what’s best for their pocketbooks, not the consumers’.'” [Kenneth Terrell, “Court Should Reverse Decision That Harms Retirement Investors,” AARP, 04/26/18; AARP Letter to Jay Clayton, AARP, 09/06/17]

Mulvaney Has Taken Thousands from Shady Reverse Mortgage Brokers 

  • Reverse mortgages allow older Americans to borrow against the equity of their homes and receive incremental payments over time. Although this can help provide an income during retirement, it creates a large debt load. [Mary Griffin, “Older Americans and the CFPB,” Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 05/25/11]
  • The CFPB has brought enforcement actions against reverse mortgage companies for illegal deceptive advertising. In December 2016, the CFPB ordered three reverse mortgages companies to pay nearly $800,000 for illegal deceptive advertising. Through investigations, the CFPB found that the companies falsely claimed that consumers could stay in their homes for the rest of their lives. [“CFPB Takes Action Against Reverse Mortgage Companies for Deceptive Advertising,” Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 12/07/16]
  • Mulvaney has received campaign contributions for reverse mortgage brokers. He has received $5,750 from Quicken Loans, which offers reverse mortgages. [Quicken Loans 2016 Cycle, OpenSecrets, accessed 06/06/18; Quicken Loans 2014 Cycle, OpenSecrets, accessed 06/06/18; Home, One Reverse Mortgage, accessed 06/06/18]

Mulvaney and Schmidt are Threatening The CFPB’s Crucial Work to Protect Older Consumers 

  • Since taking over as “Acting Director,” Mulvaney has made repeated efforts to gut the CFPB. He has called the agency “a sad, sick joke” and “the very worst kind of government entity.” In his first funding request for the agency, Mick Mulvaney requested zero funding for the CFPB, which provides crucial support to older consumers. [“ Mick Mulvaney: CFPB ‘Sick, Sad Joke,'” YouTube, 09/10/14 (1:15); “Nomination of Rep. Mick Mulvaney to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget,” Senate Budget Committee, 01/24/17; Jim Puzzanghera, “Mulvaney requests zero funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” Los Angeles Times, 01/18/18]

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