Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) once again used her perch on the Banking Committee on Thursday to publicly chastise federal regulators — this time for allegedly protecting financial institutions against homeowners who have been victimized by them.
In just four months as a senator, the former Harvard law professor and consumer advocate has repeatedly seized opportunities to highlight questionable banking practices and ostensibly lax regulatory responses, in a chamber frequently criticized for its coziness with Wall Street.
In the latest instance, Warren accused two top regulators at a Banking subcommittee hearing of withholding information they said they possessed about improper foreclosures or other abusive financial practices from victims of those practices seeking recourse in court.
The regulators — Daniel Stipano of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Richard Ashton of the Federal Reserve board of governors — said they haven’t made a decision about what information they will provide. They didn’t elaborate.
Warren asked, “So you have made a decision to protect the banks but not a decision to tell the families who were illegally foreclosed against?”
“We haven’t made a decision about what information we would provide the individuals,” Ashton responded. Stipano agreed.
“So I just want to make sure I get this straight,” Warren said. “Families get pennies on the dollar in the settlement for having been the victims of illegal activities or mistakes in the banks’ activities. You now know individual cases where the banks violated the law and you’re not going to tell the homeowners — or at least it’s not clear yet whether or not you’re going to do that?”
The regulators maintained that they haven’t decided what to tell the homeowners.
The video of the exchange was posted to YouTube by Warren’s office. Notwithstanding her eagerness to publicize her consumer protection bona fides, Warren has been press-shy about issues outside her policy forte. Her handlers don’t expect that to change. Unlike many senators, who thrive on the attention, she tends to avoid reporters in the Capitol. As her aides see it, her aim is to learn how to use the tools at her disposal to have the most impact.
