Leaders seek input, give guidance on consumer financial products

Published Jan. 24, 2012
By Senior Airman Jacob Morgan
436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Team Dover held a town-hall meeting, which featured experts on unique financial and consumer issues impacting military families Jan. 20, at The Landings Club.

Holly Petraeus, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Office of Servicemember Affairs, and Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, came here in the hopes of helping servicemembers make better-informed decisions regarding topics such as loans, for-profit schools, automobile purchases, debt collection and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

"This visit falls under both education and coordination [with military members] and will provide some very helpful insights here," said Petraeus.

The town-hall meeting was a dialogue between Team Dover members and Biden and Petraeus.

Petraeus and Biden encouraged real-world examples of financial situations when members either felt they were targeted or misinformed. Issues that arose included: receiving permanent change of station orders and being forced to sell their home for less than what they owed on the mortgage, illegal contact of the chain of command to collect a debt, and various loan issues.

In some cases, Biden and Petraeus collected contact information to solve Team Dover's members' concerns directly.

"In the economic times and foreclosure crisis we are facing - nearly one in four Americans being "under water" in their homes - these issues confront not only civilians, but also have a significant negative impact on military personnel coming back from the wars," said Biden. "Mrs. Petraeus [and the CFPB] have made sure servicemembers are being treated fairly and equitably, and I thank her for that."

Most servicemembers know they are responsible for their financial wellbeing and not having financial discipline could hurt their career.

Unfortunately, Petraeus, who travels the United States speaking with members from all services, has seen cases of both mismanagement on the servicemember's part, and servicemembers being targeted by the financial product industry.

"There are scams out there; if you go online and type in 'military loan,' many of them are really expensive," said Petraeus. "If you need an emergency loan, each service has their own assistance agencies. We want to encourage people to be educated, to shop around, and figure out the terms of the loan."

When visiting Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, last year, the newly formed CFPB OSA went on a fact-finding mission. Over the last year, the CFPB OSA has worked on developing and implementing initiatives in response to some of the problems they found.

"The average debt of an Airman entering Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base is $10,000," said Petraeus. "We are looking at implementing training during the Delayed Entry Program. Hopefully, we can inform service members earlier so they will have fewer problems in the future."

The Air Force has taken steps to ensure their Airmen have the necessary financial training. A typical Airman at Dover AFB will have taken financial training at Basic Military Training and the First Term Airman's Course.

After hearing the stories shared by the town hall meeting, both the Attorney General's office and the CFPB OSA are still looking for ideas on how to implement training and address new threats that may arise within the consumer financial products industry.

To contact the CFPB OSA with a financial problem or a story, call 1-855-411-2372 or visit www.consumerfinance.gov.

Different situations fall under either the federal government's or state's jurisdiction. Each agency will either accept the claim or refer members to the correct agency.