The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Under Trump, enforcement of consumer financial laws drops sharply, especially in areas with the highest complaints

The number of publicly announced enforcement actions under the Trump administration at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is dropping sharply, according to a report by the Consumer Federation of America.

“Law enforcement activity at the CFPB has dropped precipitously under the Trump Administration’s leadership,” said Christopher Peterson, director of financial services for the federation and author of the report.

The bureau is charged with enforcing federal consumer financial law and bringing legal action against companies that violate that law. The bureau also has the authority to seek restitution for consumers and levy fines when it finds violations. The report finds that activity in both of these areas is on the decline – overall enforcement activity is down by 80 percent from the bureau’s peak in enforcement actions in 2015 and average relief to victims is down by 96 percent per case.

How are you doing saving for emergencies, college, and retirement?

The American personal savings rate is at its lowest level since the U.S. financial crisis in 2008, at 6 percent of disposable income, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and is continuing a 60-year downward trend line.

America Saves Week, Feb. 25 to March 2, is a good time to evaluate your short- and long-term financial goals and figure out how you can save more.

Monday, Feb. 25: Save with a plan

Savers with a plan are twice as likely to save successfully for items such as retirement and their or their children’s education. During America Saves Week, create a savings plan when you take the America Saves Pledge for a chance to win up to $750.

Baby boomer bloggers keep writing despite winter storms

The winter storm we had in the Seattle area was our worst in decades. On the first night of the storm, my power went out at 11:30 p.m. I spent the night in the cold, then barely got out of the driveway the next morning to find someplace warm.

I drove north until I found a Starbucks with power. Then I decided to spend two nights in motels.

When the power came on, it was snowing heavily. When I was shoveling the driveway, my car got covered in snow again.

Despite all the bad weather throughout the nation, our group of baby boomer bloggers keeps on writing. Their latest articles include:

Education Department fails to adequately supervise student loan servicers, federal watchdog says

Student loan debt is now the second largest debt in the United States with only mortgage debt higher. And, since 2013, most people aren’t able to discharge their student loan debts through bankruptcy.

That’s what makes a report from the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education, which is highly critical of how the department is handling federal student loan servicers, disturbing. A loan servicer is a company that handles the billing and other services on a federal student loan.

In an audit, the inspector general found that Federal Student Aid, an office of the department, hadn’t adequately supervised student loan servicers.

Loan servicer settles charges it deceived student borrowers about lower-cost payment plans and loan forgiveness

Federal student loan servicer ACS Education Services agreed to a $9 million settlement Friday for steering distressed borrowers away from income-based repayment plans towards other, more expensive options. It also addresses claims that ACS deceived borrowers about the availability of loan forgiveness after a borrower works for 10 years in a public-service job. 

In addition to paying penalties and restitution to borrowers, ACS has agreed not to service loans for the major federal programs or private loans for five years. Most eligible borrowers will receive between $100 and $450. 

“Students rely on college to be a ladder to success, but too often prohibitive costs and disingenuous loan servicers trap students in a quicksand of debt,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “ACS has systematically failed borrowers by refusing to educate them on more effective federal repayment options, and instead, pushing them towards options that padded their bottom line.”

Baby boomers provide information on daily living, including relationships and stress

Tom Sightings of Sightings Over Sixty is back in the classroom every week this fall, once as a teacher and twice as a student.

Many baby boomers are interested in pursuing their education, whether for profit, leisure, or cultural enrichment – whether they go to a local adult-education class, attend an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute course at a nearby university, or take off on an educational trip with Road Scholar.

Our baby boomer group, too, is interested in education. They write hundreds of articles every year to provide helpful information to boomers. Here’s this week’s offering:

Trump administration stalled in its efforts to eliminate protections for student loan borrowers

The U.S. Department of Education will miss a November deadline to repeal the Obama-era revisions that help student loan borrowers for the 2019 school year. The rule erases the federal student debt of borrowers defrauded by colleges.

Adopted in the 1990s, the rule cancels federal loans for students whose colleges used deceptive or illegal tactics to encourage them to get loans to attend.

The Obama administration revisions streamlined the claims process and shifted more of the cost to schools for discharging loans. The changes were scheduled to take effect in July, but the department postponed them for a year and said it would appointment a new rulemaking committee to rewrite the entire regulation. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos wanted more time for the committee work on its revisions.

Operators of debt relief companies agree to settle FTC charges

Five operators of a student loan debt relief scam have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they bilked millions from consumers by falsely claiming to enroll consumers in loan forgiveness programs, costing up to $1,000 in illegal upfront fees.

The settlements are with the following individual defendants and their companies:

• Benjamin Naderi, Alliance Document Preparation
• Shawn Gabbaie, SBB Holdings
• Avinidav Rubeni, United Legal Center
• Ramiar Reuveni, Grads Doc Prep
• Farzan Azinkhan
• Michael Ratliff

The commission obtained default judgments against two more corporate defendants, Elite Doc Prep and Elite Consulting Service.

Baby boomers discuss life’s challenges and pleasures

Ah, sunny California. I just returned from a few days in Sacramento to attend a play in which my granddaughter had one of the starring parts in “Much Ado About Nothing.”

I had a terrific time. The teens are members of the Young Professionals Conservancy, which is part of the Sacramento Theater Company’s School of the Arts. Rachel played Signora Leonata, a respected, well-to-do, elderly noble at whose home, in Messina, Italy, the action is set. As governor of Messina, she is second in social power only to Don Pedro, an important nobleman from Aragon. Leonata oversees romantic high jinx between her daughter and niece and Pedro’s family and soldiers.

I’m amazed at the talent of these young performers to bring Shakespeare alive.

Meanwhile, baby boomer bloggers are writing about life’s challenges and pleasures. Their articles include:

Nine student loan debt relief companies are being sued for scam

A lawsuit filed Thursday against nine student loan debt relief companies, their financing company, and two leaders in several of the companies alleges that the defendants illegally advertise, sell, and finance student debt relief services to thousands of consumers nationwide. 

It  alleges that defendants  claim to be affiliated with the federal government, make misrepresentations to induce consumers to enroll in their services, and charge consumers illegal upfront fees and/or high interest rates. The defendants usually charge a consumer more than $1,000 for their services, which are available for free through the federal government or the consumer’s student loan servicer.

“New Yorkers are already struggling under a mountain of student loan debt,” said Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood “These companies sought to line their own pockets by taking advantage of students who were simply trying to pay for their education.”