As bad as these two sectors are, they're even worse in combination - the harms data brokers (sloppy, invasive) inflict on us when they supply credit bureaux (consequential, secretive, intransigent) are far worse than the sum of the harms of each.

And now for some good news. The #CFPB, under the leadership of #RohitChopra, has declared war on this alliance:

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/08/16/cfpb-looks-to-restrict-the-sleazy-link-between-credit-reporting-agencies-and-data-brokers/

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Biden's ceding of antitrust policy to the left of the party, combined with disaffected GOP senators viewing Khan as their enemy's enemy, led to Khan's historic appointment as FTC Chair. In that position, she was joined by a slate of Biden trustbusters, including #JonathanKanter at the DOJ Antitrust Division, #TimWu at the #WhiteHouse, and other important, skilled and principled fighters like #AlvaroBedoya (FTC), #RebeccaSlaughter (FTC), #RohitChopra (#CFPB), and many others.

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The Biden administration is a weirdly perfect illustration of this "independence." The Biden admin is a kind of referee, doling out policies and appointemnts to its competing wings, without any coherence or consistency.

That's how you get *incredible* appointments like #LinaKhan at the #FTC and #JonathanKanter at #DoJ #AntitrustDivision and #RohitChopra at the #CFPB.

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Director #RohitChopra has warned the arm-breakers chasing payments on zombie mortgages that it's illegal for them to "threaten judicial actions, such as foreclosures, for debts that are past a state’s statute of limitations."

But there's still plenty of room for more action. As Smith notes, the 2012 #NationalMortgageSettlement - a "get out of jail for almost free" card for the big banks - enticed lots of banks to discharge those second mortgages.

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Of course, Trump doesn't read academic papers, so the payday lenders also moved their annual conference to a Trump resort, writing the President a check for $1m:

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-payday-lenders-spent-1-million-at-a-trump-resort-and-cashed-in

Biden plugged many of the cracks that Trump created in the firewalls that guard against predatory lenders. Most significantly, he moved #RohitChopra from the FTC to the CFPB, where, as director, he has overseen a determined effort to rein in the sector.

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