Ask Steve Show Topic – Feb. 11, 2017

Join Attorney Stephen Foondos from the United Law Center this and every Saturday from 3-4:00 p.m. for the Ask Steve radio program on NewsRadio KFBK 1530AM when we discuss what questions do you need to ask a Bankruptcy attorney before hiring them Make sure and check out Stephen’s new legal challenge series that runs every weekday morning at 7:30am on KQCA-MY58 TV. These weekly topics will extend into the radio show where we explore them in more depth. This week’s show will cover:

What questions should you ask a Bankruptcy attorney if you are considering filing? This is a great way to figure out if your attorney is the RIGHT attorney. Questions to consider are:

• How many years of experience do they have in the area of law?
• What kind of result should we expect?

Here’s a great checklist of ideas on how to evaluate a good attorney from Forbes.com.

Of concern this week is the fact that President Trump has announced that he is developing a bill to loosen bank regulations including lessening the power of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to go after banks that have violated homeowners’ rights. We are hearing that these could be the highlights based on an article by USA Today referring to a memo by Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and a critic of the banking law:

• Turning the director of the CFPB into a political appointee. The CFPB is an independent agency, funded by the Federal Reserve. Richard Cordray, the current director, is serving a 5-year term, set to expire in 2018. Lack of independence could make yet another oversight group partisan.
• *Weakening CFPB’s reach. Hensarling is also looking to remove the CFPB’s authority to bring cases against financial services companies and individuals that it deems to have committed “unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices.” He also wants to remove the CFPB’s databases containing consumer complaints. The agency has received more than 1 million complaints since 2010. What? Not OK.
• *Loosening banks’ requirements. Hensarling’s bill would remove the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation from a review process to determine banks’ readiness in case of a recession.

Join us each Saturday on 1530AM NewsTalk KFBK for the Ask Steve Show from 3:00-4:00 p.m. Past show podcasts are available here