FIRE SALES TO WALL STREET: A Review of Government-Sponsored Residential Note Sales

Growing Wall Street control of single family homes is a contributor to our housing crisis, with mega single-family investors (those who own more than 1,000 homes nationwide) controlling an estimated 446,000 homes as of January 2025. Nationally, the presence of corporate landlords in a community has been associated with raised rents, junk fees, reduced maintenance, and increased evictions. 

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Letters to the Regulators: AFREF Opposes Trump CFPB Effort to Eviscerate Small Business and Farm Lending Disclosure

View or download a PDF of the letter here AFREF submitted a comment opposing the Trump administration effort to undermine civil rights and fair lending law by severely weakening the small business and farm lending disclosure rules that would exempt half of all loans, reduce essential data collection, and exclude farm lending entirely. 

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Unequal Burdens Private Equity-Backed Fossil Fuel Assets and the Global South

Topic: Climate Finance & Insurance, Private Equity and Private Funds In a new report, Private Equity Climate Risks examines how the Global South is unfairly burdened by private equity’s investments in fossil fuels. While the Global North is responsible for the vast majority of excess emissions, communities of color in the Global South are hit hardest by the […]

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Letters to the Regulators: Letter to the California Department of Insurance Highlighting the Need for Climate Risk Planning

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and Public Citizen sent a letter in response to the California Department of Insurance’s Long-Term Solvency Planning Proposal, highlighting the need for insurers to comprehensively address both physical and transition risks across underwriting, investing, and operations.  “Insurers need to develop climate plans that encompass both climate mitigation and climate adaptation […]

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AFREF Opposes the Crypto Exchange Coinbase’s Attempt to Get a Bank Charter

AFREF filed comments in opposition to giving Coinbase, the nation’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, its own bank charter. The proposed new crypto bank would impermissibly combine commerce and banking, create giant risks to the financial system and economy when the next crypto crash inevitably occurs, and gives Coinbase the public benefits of being a member bank of the […]

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AFREF, CFA, Prof. Wilmarth Submit Letter to the FDIC Warning of the Dangers of Industrial Loan Company Bank Charters

AFREF, Consumer Federation of America and Prof. Art Wilmarth submitted comments to the FDIC warning about the harms to consumers, communities, and the financial system that would ensue from expanding the industrial loan company (ILC) bank charter loophole to Big Tech, crypto, and other predatory financial firms.

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Letters to Congress: AFR Letter to Congress on the Importance of the National Flood Insurance Program

Americans for Financial Reform along with ten undersigned partner organizations write in support of legislative efforts to reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to improve insurance affordability, expand coverage, and promote resilience. The NFIP is a critical program that protects households across the country from economic devastation from flooding and allows them to rebuild […]

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Rising Property Insurance Premiums: The Uneven Risks to Household and Systemic Financial Stability

Recent research reveals that homeowners with lower credit scores or who live in  neighborhoods of color are often charged more for property insurance coverage even when the disaster risks they face are comparable to those paying less for insurance. As climate risk grows, borrowers perceived by insurance companies as having riskier credit characteristics could be disproportionally burdened by higher insurance costs that undermine their financial stability.

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