AG’s new agency will target for-profit schools, mortgage lenders; Attorney says it’s part of ‘proactive’ agenda
State Attorney General Josh Shapiro is turning up the heat in his crusade against wrongdoers in the lending industry, recently launching the Consumer Financial Protection Unit and hiring a former member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to help run it.
Shapiro announced the formation of the agency on July 20, claiming it will protect seniors, families with students and military service members from fraudsters.
“It’s not surprising that Shapiro would be moving in this way; he has always indicated that he planned to be a proactive attorney general,” Barbara S. Mishkin, an attorney with Ballard Spahr LLC, told the Pennsylvania Record.
“Financial service companies should be concerned in the sense this shows a plan of being active in the area and donating resources to it.”
As part of his effort, Shapiro has appointed Nicholas Smyth assistant director of the Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Smyth’s resume includes previously helping to establish the CFPB.
The CFPB was created in 2010 by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and regulates the financial services industry.
Part of his new campaign will also zero in on for-profit colleges and mortgage and student loan services.