Education Secretary Betsy DeVos systematically blocked debt relief for over 200,000 students defrauded by for-profit colleges, overruling internal Education Department career staff who had recommended full loan forgiveness. Internal memos from the department’s Borrower Defense Unit dated …
Betsy DeVosU.S. Department of EducationCorinthian CollegesITT Technical Instituteregulatory-capturepredatory-lendingeducationstudent-debtconsumer-protection+1 more
President Trump installed Mick Mulvaney, his Office of Management and Budget director, as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a contested appointment that triggered a legal battle. As a congressman, Mulvaney had been a top recipient of payday lending campaign cash and once …
Mick MulvaneyDonald TrumpConsumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)regulatory-capturepredatory-lendingconsumer-protectioncorruptionpayday-lending+1 more
The United States Department of Justice and attorneys general from 38 states and the District of Columbia reached a landmark $95.5 million settlement with Education Management Corporation (EDMC) on November 16, 2015, resolving allegations that the nation’s second-largest for-profit education …
Corinthian Colleges, one of the nation’s largest for-profit college chains with over 100 campuses, filed for bankruptcy after federal and state regulators exposed systematic fraud against students. The company aggressively recruited low-income students with false promises of high job placement …
Corinthian CollegesU.S. Department of EducationConsumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU)predatory-lendingeducationstudent-debtcorporate-fraudregulatory-capture+1 more
Corinthian Colleges Inc., one of the largest for-profit college chains in the United States operating Everest College, Heald College, and WyoTech brands, announced on April 26, 2015, that it would immediately cease operations at all remaining campuses, abruptly closing 28 ground locations and …
Corinthian CollegesEverest CollegeHeald CollegeWyoTechU.S. Department of Education+2 morefor-profit-educationfraudcollege-closurestudent-debtpredatory-lending+2 more
On July 30, 2012, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released the Harkin Report, a devastating two-year investigation documenting systematic fraud, abuse, and taxpayer exploitation in the for-profit college industry. The 2,000-page report, based on subpoenaed …
Senator Tom HarkinSenate HELP CommitteeUniversity of PhoenixCorinthian CollegesITT Tech+3 moreeducationfor-profit-collegesfraudstudent-debtregulatory-failure+1 more
President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to regulate consumer financial products and protect Americans from predatory lending practices. The CFPB was the brainchild of Harvard Law …
Barack ObamaElizabeth WarrenRichard CordrayConsumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)consumer-protectionregulatory-capturepredatory-lendingfinancial-reformelizabeth warren+1 more
Bank of America completed its acquisition of Countrywide Financial on July 1, 2008, purchasing the nation’s largest mortgage lender for approximately $4 billion in a Federal Reserve-approved transaction that would ultimately cost Bank of America and its shareholders at least $50 billion in …
Angelo MoziloCountrywide FinancialBank of AmericaSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC)Department of Justice+1 morefinancial-crisisregulatory-capturepredatory-lendingfraudaccountability-crisis+1 more
The U.S. housing bubble reaches its peak in mid-2006, with national home prices having risen 124 percent since 1997. Subprime mortgage originations hit $600 billion, representing 23 percent of all mortgage originations, up from 8 percent in 2003. The bubble’s apex represents the culmination of …
Countrywide FinancialNew Century FinancialWashington MutualAmeriquestFederal Reserve+1 morehousing-bubblepredatory-lendingsubprime-mortgagessystemic-riskhousing
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) under John Hawke Jr. issues sweeping federal preemption rules that override state consumer protection laws targeting predatory lending practices. This regulatory capture systematically dismantles state-level safeguards that attorneys general like …
OCCJohn Hawke JrJulie WilliamsEliot SpitzerNational City Bank+2 moreocc-preemptionstate-law-overridepredatory-lendingregulatory-race-to-bottomconsumer-protection+1 more
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, led by Comptroller John Hawke Jr, issues a preemption determination blocking enforcement of the Georgia Fair Lending Act against national banks, marking a turning point in federal regulators’ campaign to shield predatory lenders from state …
Office of the Comptroller of the CurrencyJohn Hawke JrGeorgia State LegislatureNational City BankAmerican Bankers Associationregulatory-capturepredatory-lendingpreemptionhousing-policyhousing
Subprime mortgage lending reaches $160 billion annually by 2000, a tenfold increase from 1993, as predatory lenders systematically target minority communities with high-cost loans. Rather than expanding homeownership, research shows that subprime lending at this scale actually causes net losses in …
Household Finance CorporationAssociates First CapitalCitigroupAmeriquestNational Association of Mortgage Brokerspredatory-lendinghousing-policyracial-discriminationsubprime-mortgageshousing