Attorney Generals met with Cabinet Members

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel met with members of the Obama Administration cabinet along with Attorney Generals from Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington.

The Attorney Generals met to discuss mortgage lending practices and other sensitive banking issues with The United States Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner; United States Attorney General, Eric Holder; The Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan; and Federal Trade Commission Chairman, Jon Leibowitz.

The event was unprecedented and the discussion centered on trends and additional actions in the housing arena that are designed to protect homeowners, borrowers and consumers. The attendance of three cabinet members and the chair of the Federal Trade Commission show the level of commitment and a new collaboration by the administration to serve the people of our respective states.

Loan modification and foreclosure rescue schemes were one of the main focuses of the meeting. Attorney General McDaniel has been focused on these issues for some time. He has also issued several consumer warnings designed to increase awareness in relation to these types of scheme in his home state of Arkansas. McDaniel believes that assistance from the Federal Government is required in order to fight against the predators that use the airwaves with misleading ads offering hope to citizens in distress of foreclosure and in need of loan modification.

Arkansas Attorney General has recently filed suit against 21st Century Legal Services for operating in the State with a scam involving mortgage modification. The company would promise to renegotiate mortgage loan terms and charge enormous up-front fees. 21st Century Legal Services according to the evidence obtained has not completed one loan modification and at this point has only scammed distressed homeowners out of money.

McDaniel discussed with Treasury Secretary, Geithner the need for a Federal legislation that would prohibit up-front fee by companies offering loan modification services. He stressed that Arkansas has had a law in regard to up-front fees on the books since 1993 however less than half of the states have such a law. The Federal Trade Commission Chairman, Jon Leibowitz gave an indication that the administration is apt to follow Arkansas led before the year’s end by banning up-front fees for loan or mortgage modification.

McDaniel also discussed with the Treasury Secretary in regard to Arkansas attempt to do away with payday lenders and noted his concern over bank overdraft fees. McDaniel stated the fees tend to be excessive and detrimental to consumers. Banks in this instance claim that they are under federal regulation when it comes to these fees and McDaniel stressed the need for the Treasury Secretary to restrict them.

The Attorney General also discussed with the Treasury Secretary in regard to President Obama’s proposed new banking regulatory agency. He noted to the Secretary that such proposed agency would threaten to declaw Arkansas’ State Bank Commissioner and penalize community banks that act responsible in regard to customers. He stated that they should not have to pay for Wall Street players.


  • No Related Post
bookmark bookmark bookmark bookmark bookmark bookmark bookmark bookmark bookmark bookmark bookmark bookmark
tabs-top  banner ad


Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.