Jim McCarthy named as member of inaugural Consumer Advisory Board of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

September 12, 2012 — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced the appointment of 25 consumer experts from outside the federal government to its newly-formed Consumer Advisory Board (CAB), which will provide advice to CFPB leadership on a broad range of consumer financial issues and emerging market trends.
Jim McCarthy

Jim McCarthy, MVFHC’s President/CEO, was named as one of the inaugural CAB members.

“This group of experts truly represents the interest of the diverse people and communities we serve,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “The Consumer Advisory Board will be a resource to the CFPB, and I look forward to working with its members to further our mission to protect American consumers.”

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act charges the CFPB with establishing a Consumer Advisory Board to advise and consult with the CFPB’s director on a variety of consumer financial issues.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a 21st century agency that helps consumer finance markets work by making rules more effective,
by consistently and fairly enforcing those rules, and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives. In February the CFPB issued a Federal Register Notice outlining the CAB’s responsibilities and the duties of its members and soliciting recommendations for nominees.

The newly appointed CAB members include experts in consumer protection, financial services, community development, fair lending, civil rights, and consumer financial products or services. They also represent depository institutions that primarily serve underserved communities, and they represent communities that have been significantly impacted by higher-priced mortgage loans.

CAB’s first meeting will take place Sept. 27–28, 2012, in St. Louis, MO. By statute the board will meet no less than twice per year. Members will have staggered three-year terms, and McCarthy will serve an initial full three-year term.

“I am honored to have been appointed to serve on the first ever Consumer Advisory Board to the CFPB,” McCarthy said. “I look forward to working with the distinguished individuals with whom I will serve, Director Richard Cordray, and the other dedicated professionals of the CFPB.”

McCarthy has been MVFHC’s President/CEO since 1998. He is currently serving his fifth term as Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Fair Housing Alliance in Washington, DC. McCarthy is one of the architects of the Predatory Lending Solutions and Foreclosure Prevention project, a program that addresses the problem of predatory mortgage lending and subsequent residential foreclosures in the greater Dayton and Montgomery County area.

“Wall Street disproportionately targeted communities of color with toxic mortgage loans. African Americans and Latinos are 75 percent more likely than Caucasians to experience foreclosure,” McCarthy continued. “As a result of depreciation in the value of properties near foreclosed properties, African American and Latino communities are expected by year’s end to have lost more than $370 billion in wealth. I am eager to help in any way to ensure better consumer protections so that we do not see a continuation of the housing crisis that has been afflicting our communities.”