Lending - Federal Preemption of State Laws

May 22, 1:04 PMDC Corporate Ethics ExaminerJim Cunningham

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Statement from Center for Responsible Lending President Mike Calhoun in Response to President Obama's May 20, 2009 Memo on Federal Preemption of State Laws

WASHINGTON, May 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Center for Responsible Lending President Mike Calhoun in response to President Obama's May 20, 2009 memo on federal preemption of state laws:

"We applaud President Obama for reaffirming the important role of state law in protecting consumers.

To that end, we call on federal banking regulators to withdraw their misguided and harmful preemption policy so that state regulators can once again protect their residents from unfair and deceptive financial products. We needn't look further than the current mortgage meltdown for evidence that federal preemption in the financial arena has been unwise and detrimental for tens of millions of American families. The inability of states to enforce their own consumer protection laws - even as federal regulators stood idly by - was a major factor in the reckless lending that has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars.

Federal protections should be a floor, not a ceiling, that allow state officials to take further steps if needed to curb the kind of abusive practices at the root of economic problems we now face. National and state laws are both needed if we're to provide, in the president's words, 'independent safeguards for the public.'"

Source: Center for Responsible Lending
CONTACT: Kathleen Day, +1-202-349-1871,
kathleen.day@responsiblelending.org, Ginna Green, +1-510-379-5513,
ginna.green@responsiblelending.org or Charlene Crowell, +1-919-313-8523,
Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org, all of the Center for Responsible
Lending
Web Site: http://responsiblelending.org/