The Assault on Consumer Protection

Expand Payday loans’ high interest rates and fees can trap borrowers in cycles of debt that are hard to escape. © Getty Images The past year was not a great one for consumers or the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, the agency mandated to regulate predatory lenders and abusive debt collectors. The Trump administration and its allies among special interests have worked to weaken the bureau’s rules and enforcement — they’re even challenging the legality of the bureau itself. Americans are left to fend for themselves in an increasingly complex arena of financial services. The result: mounting…

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