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Keith shares his "dirty dozen" due diligence questions every investor should ask before buying property, from gauging build-to-rent saturation and local job growth to testing cash flow and exit strategies.  He explains why even new-builds still need inspections and how to think about rents that may stay flat while expenses rise.  Aundrea Newbern, an experienced investor, broker, and property manager active in Southeast Georgia and Michigan, offers a real-world look at today's long-term and short-term rental markets, including shifting tenant behavior and local restrictions.  She also details how she's using AI to streamline property management, improve screening, optimize pricing, and cut maintenance costs, giving listeners practical ideas to apply in their own portfolios. Episode Page: GetRichEducation.com/610 For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com GRE Free Investment Coaching: GREinvestmentcoach.com Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE  or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments.  For predictable 10-12% quarterly returns, visit FreedomFamilyInvestments.com/GRE or text  FAMILY to 66866  Unlock truly passive real estate income—visit flockhomes.com/GRE today to see if your properties qualify for a 721 exchange with Flock Homes. To get in the best physical, mental, and professional shape of your life, go to DanielThomasHind.com and apply for Daniel's intensive 1-on-1 coaching for burnt-out entrepreneurs and executives. Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search "how to leave an Apple Podcasts review"  For advertising inquiries, visit: GetRichEducation.com/ad Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— GREletter.com  Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Complete episode transcript:   Keith Weinhold  0:01   Keith, welcome to GRE. I'm your host, Keith Weinhold, talking about vital due diligence questions that you have to know the answers to before you buy your next property. Even advanced investors don't know to ask some of these. Then a terrific guest tells us how she is practically applying AI to increase rental occupancy, save on maintenance expenses and drive rental income today on Get Rich Education.   Speaker 1  0:28   Since 2014 the powerful Get Rich Education podcast has created more passive income for people than nearly any other show in the world. This show teaches you how to earn strong returns from passive real estate investing in the best markets without losing your time being a flipper or landlord show host Keith Weinhold writes for both Forbes and Rich Dad advisors, and delivers a new show every week. Since 2014 there's been millions of listener downloads in 188 world nations. He has a list show guests and key top-selling personal finance author Robert Kiyosaki. Get rich education can be heard on every podcast platform, plus it has its own dedicated Apple and Android listener phone apps. Build wealth on the go with the Get Rich Education podcast. Sign up now for the Get Rich Education podcast, or visit getricheducation.com   Keith Weinhold  1:11   You know, Mid South Home Buyers, that top Memphis turnkey provider, I learned that a secret weapon behind their explosive growth is more than just you buying their properties, it's an executive coach for nine years now. Their CEO, Terry Kerr, and his COO, Pat Nix, have worked privately with a coach who I've now learned from too, and he doesn't market himself online anywhere. After 12 years behind the scenes, that coach is now making himself available exclusively for GRE listeners, his name is Daniel Thomas Hind. If you're a hard-charging business owner or investor who wants to get in the best shape of your life physically, mentally, and professionally, you can fill out an application for a free consult. This is private one on one coaching for those willing to go to uncommon lengths to achieve uncommon results. Thanks to Daniel, we've all become better leaders, better operators, and better men. It started by showing up for ourselves. Now it's your turn. Go to danielthomashind.com H I N D, that's Daniel Thomas hind.com and sign up before Spotsville Flock Homes helps multifamily owners exit the operator grind, whether it's your sixplex or a 50 unit apartment through a 721 exchange. This defers your capital gains tax. It's a strategy long used by institutions. Now you can swap tenants and toilets for passive income and zero management. Request your initial valuations. See if your property qualifies at flockhomes.com/gre that's F L O C K homes.com / G R E.   Speaker 2  2:57   You're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is Get Rich Education.   Keith Weinhold  3:13   Welcome to GRE. I'm your host, Keith Weinhold. The world's biggest problems are also the world's biggest businesses. That's not a coincidence, and it squarely includes the problem of having enough quality housing. We talk about how to do that profitably and diligently, and on the topic of diligence, I've got a dirty dozen due diligence questions, call it I suppose these are smart questions to ask before you get under contract to buy your next property, and some of these could just as well apply to your existing rental property. Build to rent properties have become so popular, but ask the question, are these build to rent properties becoming overbuilt in this neighborhood? That's the first due diligence question, and a lot of investors overlook this, so you got to be mindful that build to rent often means lots of new construction in one smaller defined area. What you should do is ensure that new supply is being absorbed by renters. Some red flags to look out for are if multiple nearby communities are offering heavy concessions or free rent enticements, that is a sign that they're having difficulty luring in new renters to the area, and now taking a couple months to rent a brand new build isn't that unusual, but does the whole thing kind of feel like a mattress liquidation sale? Renters shouldn't have more signing bonuses than NFL free agents. The next due diligence question: Does this market still have population? And job growth, or am I late to the party? New workplace construction is a bullish market sign. Workplace construction, I'm talking about like a new office building, especially a new medical clinic, a new data center, a new factory. These signs are super bullish for an area, because not only does that attract the jobs and support the housing, as you can imagine, but see, that also means that whomever built the new workplace, oh, they probably did some research, and they're bullish about that area for a reason, they're going to look into that and do their due diligence that you can leverage before they spend perhaps 10s of millions of dollars or more in building a new workplace.    Keith Weinhold  5:45   The population should be stable or rising. Red flags are if growth already peaked and layoffs are increasing, don't arrive late to the party after the DJ has already packed up. The next question, when you're looking into a property, is is this unit likely to cash flow on day one? You know, you need to wonder, is the unit occupied or vacant. Some investors don't even think to ask that question until they get down the road a ways. When it's occupied, does the rent meet or exceed expenses with a buffer for maintenance and vacancy, now, if it's negatively cash flowing and you're solely enjoying the other four ways real estate pays, that might be okay, but you need to be comfortable with adopting a monthly bill that may or may not work. And do you know what I call a negatively cash flowing property? I call it a 401k property, because you have to keep feeding it every month like it's a 401k. A negatively cash flowing property effectively reduces your salary like a 401k does, and anyone that is serious about building real wealth when they're young enough to enjoy it would not invest in a 401k outside of the employer match portion.    Keith Weinhold  7:07   I'm your host Keith Weinhold. Here on Get Rich Education, episode 610 I've answered three out of twelve dirty dozen due diligence questions, and with abundantly minded grow your means answers that you're just not going to find on ChatGPT. Before I get to the fourth one, do you know what the word diligence means? Anyway, you probably have some idea. The definition of diligence is the quality of working carefully and persistently, demonstrating steady effort and thorough attention to a task. It implies a strong work ethic, meticulousness, and a commitment to completing duties well. All right, that is the definition. Diligence is the opposite of negligence. The next one, does my new build property need an inspection first? And this is a question, actually, that came in from Jake in Manhattan. Yes, it always does, whether it's resale or new build. It is always a good idea to get an inspection. One of the biggest misconceptions, really, is that new build means problem free.   Keith Weinhold  8:16   People just equate new build with problem free. No, that is not the case. New build can have problems. There could still be foundation cracks that are beyond normal settling, perhaps improperly installed roof flashing that could cause leaks, maybe windows or doors that are installed out of square, and a bunch more stuff that could be wrong, even in new build a presale inspection after you get the property under contract that only costs 350-650 dollars for single family rentals and 500-900 dollars for a duplex. This is cheap insurance. It's also good peace of mind, get it done. Sometimes investors want to skip the inspection when they need a quick close. Buyer, beware of the risk. The fifth due diligence question: What happens to my numbers if rents flatten for two years? And this is a more germane question than usual today, because rent growth is slow here in this cycle. Single-family rents are up just 1.3% year over year per totality, and expenses tend to rise with inflation. All right, so if your rents flatten for two years, project that ahead like your other expenses are rising, and see that the property would still remain financially stable. We cannot build a business plan on motivational quotes. Next, am I buying near major employers or near hopes and dreams with work from home trends, which can probably better be called. Called work from anywhere, trends buying near major employers is actually less important today, but it still matters. It is good to have diversified employers and stable payrolls somewhat nearby. Promises about future development might never happen. Sheesh, some areas have been up and coming since cassette tapes, the seventh due diligence question, what's the property tax trajectory here? That's the question. Taxes are often stable and increases predictable, but is there a local budget shortfall? And see, this is the type of due diligence that few people do keep in mind, and I'm bringing up new build a lot, because there are so many new build income properties today on new builds. Also, look out, year one taxes can look deceptively low until improved property is assessed in year two, and any reputable provider, and when you contact our GRE investment coaching here, we're going to point that out to you.    Keith Weinhold  11:05   This is how you can, though, sometimes get unusually low property taxes in year one if they have not assessed the improvement yet. Question eight, and this comes from Violet in Peoria, Arizona, is the builder offering real incentives, or are they just hiding the true price? Okay, well, incentives - they should genuinely improve your deal without inflating the pricing. Here, look out for sunglasses and a fake mustache for financing. It's mandatory that you have an appraisal. This protects you against overpaying in an appraisal, even though it's done for bank collateral purposes, checking the quality of their collateral, which is the property, you know, it is also a good independent third-party valuation check. This is a good tool to keep you from overpaying. Back around the 2008 days, the global financial crisis, you know, often then the lender and the appraiser could collude to give you favorable appraisals, somewhat inflated values, and as it turned out, I was an investor then and ended up being the beneficiary of some of those favorable appraisals, but since then the CFPB, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, stepped in. They were formed to step in, so that those parties are no longer in cahoots with each other, and yes, incentives are explicitly disclosed to the lender and appraiser. For example, if you have a seller that offers to pay half of your closing costs if you pay their full sale price. Okay, the appraisers do know that they have that information before they provide you with the appraised value. Ninth, what's the vacancy rate in this area right now? This is a good due diligence question to ask. A balanced market has about five to 6% vacancy, eight to 10% or more. That can often be the sign of a weak market, but this might be all right in build to rent communities, and that's due to longer initial lease up periods that you have there. Due diligence question 10. Would I still want this property if appreciation slowed dramatically? You want to ask yourself this question because you cannot predict appreciation. The answer to this question is most likely yes.   Keith Weinhold  13:35   You would still want the property even if appreciation slowed dramatically, because as a listener here, you understand that with a 20% down payment, just 2% price appreciation creates a 10% return on your equity, and you're also benefiting from the other four ways real estate pays, but if you're absolutely counting on appreciation to do all of the heavy lifting over the long term, that's less investing, and that is more hoping with spreadsheets. What's more predictable is something like inflation profiting on your loan, which is a force on its own. Next, ask this question: How old are the big ticket items like the roof, HVAC, plumbing, sewer, and electrical? I mean, if you get a number of expensive items that are near the end of their life, you could soon become emotionally attached to ibuprofen. At GRE Marketplace, we work with either extensively renovated properties or new build properties, so this is rarely a concern. These big capex items, capital expenditures, and that is really the way to go. Extensively renovated or new build property, because see that way the cost of having all this done for you both. Before you buy the property, that means that what you're essentially doing is financing the cost of all this into the loan, you're financing into the new roof, HVAC, plumbing, sewer, electrical, if any of that applies, and if you're buying a fixer upper, well, then a lot of times you need to pay cash for these items, and you lose repair time where the property could have been rented during that renovation time. Work with our investment coaching here, and you're going to be all set. Those big ticket items are rarely a concern. And then what happens is, if you have a break even or a positively cash flowing property. The tenant covers all of your operating expenses with the rent payment, and you never have to pay any money at all for these big ticket items. They pay for your mortgage and everything else, and you never lose the time because these things were done before you bought.    Keith Weinhold  16:01   And the last one question 12. What you want to ask is, what's the exit strategy if I ever want to sell? That's the last question. Begin with the end in mind. The fewer doors the property has, the easier it is to sell. Single family homes win big here. I mean, your eventual buyer down the road, they could be a gleeful owner occupant, even if the rental math were poor. That buyer wouldn't even know that the rental math is poor, because they're not renting it out, they're going to live there themselves. Sometimes your single family rental tenant even becomes your eventual buyer. This can work with duplexes too. Sometimes you can get an owner occupant, or your tenant stays there and continues to reside there as they're the owner, and they rent out the other side as well. But if you're trying to sell at 30 duplex, well, now you're exposed to cap rates and investor sentiment and market cycles, it's sort of like trying to offload a small corporation. That doesn't mean that apartments are bad, but they are substantially less liquid than single family rentals. That's your exit strategy that we're looking at. They are the dirty dozen due diligence questions every investor feels bumps, I have you will too, but these questions and answers are really going to go a long way toward helping you own right, and when you stick with it, real estate is a forgiving and lucrative asset class because you're paid in so many ways. Hey, coming up shortly, a guest that you haven't heard from in a while, and I know that some of you have missed hearing her voice. We'll talk a bit about the state of the real estate market here in a period where prices are remarkably stable, housing transactions are only about 80% what they usually are, and then we'll discuss how she's using AI in her real estate investing today. It's how she's increasing her occupancy and optimizing the amount of rent being collected. She splits her time in a couple ways between real estate markets in both Michigan and Georgia, and then in both the short term and long-term rental markets. That's next. I'm Keith Weinhold. You're listening to Get Rich Education. What if you got your mortgage loans the same place I get mine?   Keith Weinhold  18:31   You sure can at Ridge Lending Group, NMLS 42056 They provided GRE listeners with more loans than anyone, because Ridge specializes in investment property, they'll help you build a long-term plan for growing your real estate empire with leverage. Start your prequal, and even chat directly with President Chayley Ridge. While it's on your mind, start at ridgelendinggroup.com that's ridgelendinggroup.com Let me ask you something, if you've worked hard to build wealth, is your money positioned to actually support your goals? A lot of accredited investors leave capital sitting in cash because it feels safe, but inflation and missed income opportunities can quietly erode its value. Freedom Family Investments offers freedom notes for investors seeking structured income backed by real estate, it's a straightforward approach built on real assets, not speculation. In full disclosure, I'm an investor myself. What I like is that their team walks you through how it all works, so you can decide if it aligns with your portfolio and income goals. Every investment carries risk, and nothing is guaranteed, but with a track record of consistent on-time investor payouts, they've built real credibility. Go to Freedom Family investments.com to book a clarity call, or text Family 266-866 that's Family 266-866,    Speaker 3  20:02   Hi, this is Russell Gray, co-host of the Real Estate Guys Radio Show, and you're listening to Get Rich Education with Keith Weinhold. Don't quit your daydream. We've got a special treat for you today is for the first time in a few years we hear from someone that's served since 2020 in house here in both operations and as an investment coach. Today she serves GRE in a different capacity internally, but a lot of you still ask about her. That's why she's here. She's got both the formal education with her MBA, and is about as robust in being a real estate investor as you can be at the same time. Oh, it's a warm welcome back to the talented Andrea Newburn.   Aundrea Newbern  20:51   Hey, Keith, it's so great to be back. It's been a long time.   Keith Weinhold  20:54   Well, you've continued to grow not just in your business but in your family size since you were last here. Congrats there. I'd like your thoughts, just generally, about the American residential real estate investment market today, where we've got these sort of rising prices in low supply areas, we have slightly falling prices in oversupplied areas, we've got mortgage rates that have normalized, we've got tough affordability for renters that want to be first time home buyers, so just tell us about what you see, big picture. Andrea,   Aundrea Newbern  21:28   Yeah, absolutely, and so I invest and operate predominantly in the Southeast, so this will probably be a little bit more of a lens from the Southeast market, but as you know, I still actively invest in real estate myself. I help, you know people buy rental properties, also. But then the main thing that I'm doing now is I have a property management company down in Southeast Georgia, and so I'm seeing things more from the lens of what investors are doing, where they're investing, where rents are going, and if people are even buying properties. So it's been a little bit interesting. I mean, what I'm seeing is that, as you all know, it slowed down. We're not seeing as many investors buy properties, but people still are doing it, and they're still finding good cash flowing properties. Where the challenges come in is you're not making as much money on these properties as you did four or five years ago, so you know your margins are going to be a little bit less, your cash flow is going to be a little bit less. And then we're seeing, you know, rents kind of stabilize depending on the type of asset class that it is, so you know things are not doing wonderfully, but they're stable from what I'm seeing in the southeast market,   Keith Weinhold  22:31   and now you do a good bit of investing in sort of Brunswick and out toward the Georgia coast, including places like Jekyll Island, where G. Edward Griffin wrote his book about the formation of the Fed, and all that in general. How has that area been from a residential supply standpoint? For example, we know in neighboring Florida they've had a lot of oversupplied pockets. How are we looking there? I think you have a lot of occupancy right now from talking to you earlier.   Aundrea Newbern  22:59   We do, so I manage two different types of investments, right? I manage the long-term rental properties. There's less of those like on Jekyll Island, there's more of those in the mainland and Brunswick. And then we do the vacation rentals, which is very, very heavy on Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island. What we're seeing this year, if we talk about maybe those vacation rentals first, and then I'll talk about the long-term vacation rentals, we're still seeing a lot of demand, a lot of people are still coming. We're not really down from this time last year, but the one big thing we're seeing is people are booking their vacations last minute, they're not booking them months in advance at this point. So that's definitely had a little bit of an impact and had us on edge, because we're like, okay, where are these vacations? And then, sure enough, they're booking a couple weeks out now, so that's going really well. The investors that have purchased homes on Jekyll and St. Simons, especially Jekyll, are doing really good. They're still making a lot of money. They have high occupancy. Where are we seeing a little bit more of the challenge is with the long-term rentals. So rents are kind of staying flat from where they were last year in some of those B and C markets. We may even see a slight decrease, just a couple percentage points, and then it's taking longer to fill the property. So last year we could typically get a qualified runner in in three to four weeks. Now we're seeing anywhere from five to eight weeks. Right now,   Keith Weinhold  24:11   as far as on the short term side, have restrictions affected you at all, like banning Airbnbs, for example, and how have you seen that play out in other areas? Because you certainly network with other people that do short-term rentals. Can you tell us about that?   Aundrea Newbern  24:26   Yeah, absolutely. So I can talk about the Southeast market, for one, where in Jekyll, St. Simons, Brunswick, we're seeing no rental restrictions whatsoever. We do have to have a process to register the rental with a county, but it's so easy. It's literally a form. We do an inspection once a year, and that is it. I don't know that this is a fact, but a lot of the commissioners and politicians in the area also have rental properties. I think that probably has a little bit of an impact on that up here in Michigan, which, you know, I have another home, and I live in Michigan part of the time as well. There's a lot of restrictions, in fact, my. House right now is in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and they already have a rental ban where you can't do less than 30 days, so you're already having to go into that midterm market, and now they have some proposals up with the local municipality to even eliminate some of that, so we're seeing that in this area.   Keith Weinhold  25:17   Generally, do you tend to see it in nicer, ritzier areas where they want to make the short-term rental restrictions.   Aundrea Newbern  25:24   Yes, I do. Absolutely. Up here in Sterling Heights, where I live, the average home of my neighborhood is around five to six hundred thousand dollards and they absolutely do not want those here. But if you go a few neighborhoods over, where you're looking more of like the two hundreed to three hundred thousand dollars range, they don't seem to have as much of an issue with those. There   Keith Weinhold  25:40   We've been talking about short term rentals in both Southeast Georgia and then in Metro Detroit, where you currently spend quite a bit of your time. Talk to us about the long term rental market with affordability for buying being down, that really hurts the prospective first time home buyer, so they need to be more likely to rent, which would make some people wonder. Oh, well, then how could vacancy possibly go up in an area? Well, you know, migration - we've touched on it - is one reason why that might happen. Another reason why it might happen is you might see more doubling up.   Aundrea Newbern  26:15   Yeah, we do. We see a lot more families coming in. In fact, last week we just rented a property out to somebody where the parents were renting with their children, their grown adult children that also had kids, they're getting bigger houses, right? So they're actually feeling that need to fill up some of our larger homes, but it's multi-generational now. We are seeing a lot more roommates come in, too, instead of two roommates, you'll see three people come in and get a house together. The other thing we've noticed that's been really drastic, maybe the last three or four months, is the debt load that we're seeing. So, when we run people's background checks and look, they've got a lot of credit card debt now. We didn't see that as much years prior.   Keith Weinhold  26:50   All right, so you're seeing that at the street level, that's a statistic that we can read about, that American savings rates are down and the proportion of debt is often up. You're seeing it in real time, there. Do you see potentially, Andrea, this propensity for people to want to sort of bend things and have someone that's not on the lease live there with them in order to cut costs? So, you know, is there really anything in this environment that we really need to be careful about when we're screening tenants with them having such a debt load, and having to struggle with inflation and rising prices.   Aundrea Newbern  27:23   Yeah, absolutely. The debt load, number one, you know, we'll see them increasing, and that's something we want to keep an eye on. So, we're having to kind of retool our policies to look more critically at that debt load. They may not be delinquent on anything now, but if we've seen it gone up significantly in the last few months, I bet you it's coming. So, we're trying to retool our policies to be able to deal with that, you mentioned people having unauthorized tenants in the home that has persistently been an issue for us, maybe the past year. We find this often that that's happening, and usually it's because that person wouldn't qualify on the application, but they still bring in money and can help with the rent. The third thing, and this is with the advent of AI, right, how big AI has come is, we're seeing a lot of documents that are clearly fraudulent, but they look really, really good, because AI has created them. So that's another issue.   Keith Weinhold  28:09   Gosh, that's interesting. Well, I want to ask you more about AI, and you know, Aundrea, America is in such a weird time with AI today. You probably saw it at these college graduations across the nation, where a luminary is up front at the lectern making a commencement speech, and they get booed by students for talking about embracing AI, and that's probably because the student feels threatened about AI taking the job that they might not get, and you know what's funny, I suspect there's some of those same students, they loved it when AI helped them write an essay in order to get to graduation and wear that cap and gown, so..   Aundrea Newbern  28:51   Absolutely.   Keith Weinhold  28:52   Yeah, that's what I knew when I say that we're in a weird time with AI, but I know that you've really embraced AI as a property manager and investor almost from the get-go to make your property operations more efficient, so that you don't have to raise prices on owners, and you can keep those owner expenses down and increase resident retention at the same time. So, tell us more about how you're using it.   Aundrea Newbern  29:16   Yeah, so my team, I think, hates me for this right now, but in the last six months we have literally changed our operations front to back in a few different ways. Number one, we've changed the systems that we use, so you know, for vacation rentals as well as long-term rentals, you have your property management system that kind of streamlines everything, and that you do everything in. We've started going to platforms that are a little bit more AI friendly, so they have AI agents built in and they have AI functionality already in them, so that we're not having to purchase additional tools to come in and add them as a layer on top of our systems. So that's kind of the basic thing that we're doing, but the other fun things that I've been able to do, and I'm still, you know, working on this, and we're refining it daily, is using AI actually as kind of like a virtual assistant, essentially. So we do have virtual assistants with a company, and they're great, and we love them, and they do a wonderful job. However, they're human, so they're not perfect, but these AI agents, once you've trained them to do a lot of the back office tasks that your virtual assistants can do, after a certain number of iterations and training, they don't really make mistakes. So knowing that we have that, and we can continue building on that. We don't have to add FTE to our team, which increase our labor costs. That's allowing us to not raise our prices on our clients, and which I'm sure they're all happy about, because other property management companies are doing that right now,   Keith Weinhold  30:33   Right, so property management companies are going to have to do this to stay competitive and keep up, whether they want to or not, and when I think about using AI in real estate, you know, one of the first things I think of, just say that tenant journey from attracting the tenant to placing them. When I think of the cutting edge, I think of help with marketing and writing advertisements, which I think is kind of a simple thing to do, sort of an easy way to implement AI, and also when I think about that early part of the journey, really I think about using AI as a leasing assistant, and sort of how you see that more, the 24/7 front desk, if you will. I mean, if you have an AI leasing assistant that can answer questions for your prospective new tenant and follow up with leads that can be a big deal. I mean, a lead that sits unanswered for six hours, they just kind of turn into a cold French fry, and instead AI can answer those questions and schedule that tour. If a prospective tenant asks the same question four times, you know the AI doesn't get frustrated and leave out some sigh. So, can you tell us more about kind of that front end, the marketing, and then the leasing end? Are you using AI as a leasing assistant essentially?   Aundrea Newbern  31:47   We are. So, if we talk about maybe the marketing piece of things before we get into the leasing, we're not using as much AI with marketing at the moment. I have had it write some copy for me for some marketing, and I'm not usually crazy about it. I still think it looks like AI right now, so we're having to do a lot of changes with that, but what it has done a really good job at helping us out in the last few weeks is have it go analyze your website, have it analyze how you come up in search functions, right? So, if somebody's going to Google or if they're going to Gemini or they're going to Chat GPT, what's happening with your website and your company when people are looking for property managers, for example, it does a very thorough check on that. It's also really good at reviewing your website and telling you where you have gaps in terms of maybe you need to, you know, change something here or there, or you have certain links that are not helping in your search functionality. So, I think it's really good as far as analyzing stuff. That's kind of about all we've done as far as marketing, as far as a leasing assistant goes, this has essentially been like the biggest lift I think we've had from AI, period, in the last couple years. So, maybe a year ago, we implemented a software, and I'm going to leave the name out, because I'm sure you know I'd rather not do that, but it's a software, and there's a bunch of different options that you can use for this, but essentially it collects all of our leads for us, so we set it up, you know, we set criteria for the type of tenant and our policies for, you know, what type of tenant would qualify, and they call in or message or email this number or this email address, and the AI essentially goes through and asks them a series of questions, lets them know if they would potentially qualify or not. If they would not, then it will not allow them to schedule showings for any of our properties, if they would, with no exceptions. Then we can go ahead and get them scheduled, and the AI actually goes through and gets them scheduled as well. So it is a huge help for us.   Keith Weinhold  33:30   That is really nice. Okay, helping out with tenant screening, there can it arrange tours, put them on the calendar, then if they're qualified.   Aundrea Newbern  33:40   Yes, it actually gives them an option and shows them all of the dates we have available, so the person can go ahead and schedule their showing. It can provide updates if we need it, so if we change our policy, it can send that out to the tenants for us as well. So that process I would say is about 90% automated right now. It doesn't really take much human intervention, except for us to review things and make sure there's nothing kind of wonky with the schedule or anything like that.   Keith Weinhold  34:00   Okay, so if they're qualified and interested, the prospective tenant can fill out an application, and then is AI assisting on the screening, and are you still meeting with them in person before they get the keys and sign the contract?   Aundrea Newbern  34:14   Yes, and no. So we still do meet with them in person to be able to do like that walkthrough of the property and make sure we're documenting issues, and all of that, which, by the way, I think in the next year that'll probably be automated as well, but we're not quite there yet. They do not have to come in in person, in terms of signing the lease or anything like that. That's all done remotely. If they want to, they can, but we really don't have to meet with them until it's time for move in at this point.   Keith Weinhold  34:36   All right, we're seeing the evolution of AI since it was really Chat GPT that was pioneering and rolling out in November of 2022 so we're coming up on four years of really this activity being integrated into our lives, and I think we both know that it's only going to get better from here, so when we have a tenant that. It's actually placed, of course. I often like to say they call the discipline property management, but it could probably very well be called tenant management. And I think, about, you know, is everything okay after the tenants there? As far as AI having a maintenance triage function, if there's a maintenance request, of course, you're going to want to prioritize something differently if it's a big plumbing leak that's damaging the subfloor versus just having a slow drain, you know. You probably want to be sure either one of those things are taken care of, but one is going to get priority over the other. So, can you tell us more about after that tenants place the maintenance triage and using AI there?   Aundrea Newbern  35:38   Yeah, so we've pretty much automated the maintenance process in the last year, other than, you know, actually making sure the vendor went out and did what they were supposed to do. So, right now, with us, a tenant has to go in, unless they have a disability and can't do it, of course, but they have to go in and put in any work orders through our system, and essentially what happens is we've created kind of a workflow, so here's the issues of the types of things that would not be considered an emergency unless they answer, you know, certain questions a certain way. Here are the things that are emergencies and requires to go out pretty much no matter what, right? For the things that are non-emergency, or they're not clear in what the actual issue is, which is probably the number one problem we have, is they say, 'My lights aren't working, that's it, we don't know anything else about it, and then come to find out it was just a light bulb, or come to find out it was just their breakers tripping. The AI actually goes in and analyzes what they put in as the issue and selected, and then asks them a series of questions, and then, based on their responses, it actually tells them what to go do to troubleshoot it. We're seeing right now with data, it's eliminating maybe about 40% of the things that we would send somebody out for, yeah, it is huge, and the tenants are doing it, and they're not really pushing back or having issues with it most of the time, but then there are certain things that AI can't quite figure out, we're still training it on, so we do have to send somebody out or call, but it's having a huge reduction in us having to send folks out for this.   Keith Weinhold  36:56   Okay, yeah, we're not talking about completely eliminating humans, but that's huge, if they can have AI give them the answer to maybe some routine maintenance thing, probably that they could have gone and found out on their own, but yeah, that saves 40% of maintenance visits, that's a big deal. All right, so not too much backlash from tenants, not saying, like, oh, hey, I don't want to be talking with your robot, come on, not so much of that.   Aundrea Newbern  37:20   No, not yet. Now we are looking right now at implementing an actual AI agent that would answer the phone to handle these types of just maintenance issues, nothing else but maintenance for right now. And we've tested out a lot of different softwares that do this. Some are better than others, but none of them are perfect yet. And I could call and definitely tell I'm talking to AI, maybe some people couldn't. I feel we're probably going to have a little bit more blowback when that starts getting implemented and rolled out.   Keith Weinhold  37:44   Yeah, I imagine people are just going to get more and more used to this, you know. I wonder, how much AI is helping you with rent pricing, what amount to set the rent for. I mean, for example, isn't it interesting if AI knows that, hey, a bunch of units in the neighborhood all around you, they already have high occupancy. It's really tight in this sub market, where maybe it would advise you to bump up your rent. So, tell us about how AI is helping you with rent pricing.   Aundrea Newbern  38:12   Yeah, so you know, as a broker, I obviously have access to the MLS, which we use for a lot of data, but then sometimes there's rentals that are not on the MLS, so you know an owner went and listed it themselves, and I actually have an agent that their task is to go in every couple of days, and they'll analyze any of our existing listed properties that we have that are not occupied. We're still waiting on somebody to apply, and it'll go and tell me, "Hey, is anything else been listed? Has anything that was out there when we did our review two days ago? Has anything closed? Can we figure out, you know, what price it rented for? Sometimes it can, sometimes it can't, but it'll provide me a report every two days, automated, in my inbox for me to be able to look at on that. So it's really nice.   Keith Weinhold  38:51   Wow, this could be hugely useful. Yeah, or imagine on the flip side of that, if AI detects that there are a lot of vacancies in your area that, hey, you probably don't want to get so aggressive with rent increases. In that case, was there any last way that you're using AI in real estate? Maybe something I didn't think about asking you, Aundrea.   Aundrea Newbern  39:10   If we talk about long-term rentals, not as much. I think you kind of hit on the main things that we're using it for right now, but if we look at vacation rentals, it is doing a lot more there, I think, at the moment than it is long term. So, for example, pricing - we have dynamic pricing that we use for all of our vacation rentals, and the dynamic pricing isn't perfect, so somebody still has to physically go in and make sure no tweaks need to be made, that there's nothing weird going on in the software. I now have an AI agent that, that is their number one job. They go in once a day, they review all of our pricing. They let me know whether we need to adjust it up, down, change our minimum days, maximum days, and we make the adjustments. We're training it now to actually do those for us, but we haven't let it do it yet, so we're still waiting there. It's still waiting on its approval for me to do that, but things such as pricing, things such as going through and analyzing guest feedback, or guest. First tone, even in messages, it's providing me reports on that daily, so I can help identify problems that are maybe small problems before they become big.   Keith Weinhold  40:07   It makes sense that it would be more applicable in short-term rentals with all the turnover that you have there. Well, Andrea, let us know if there's a way for our followers to keep up with you and what you're doing, because people still ask about you here. You're so well liked. Let us know.   Aundrea Newbern  40:26   Yeah, so there's a couple of ways. If you're wanting to kind of see what we're doing with property management or our company, you can go to goldenaislesretreats.com There's also for a way for you to get in touch with me there. You can also check me out on LinkedIn or on Facebook, so I'm there as well, and I'd be happy to connect with anybody. I miss our listeners.   Keith Weinhold  40:43   Oh, Andrea, it's been valuable. It's been great having you back.   Aundrea Newbern  40:46   Thank you, Keith.   Keith Weinhold  40:53   Yeah, great to hear from Aundrea again on the show. It has been a few years. If you use professional management like I do, they will most likely be applying AI in a lot of the ways that we discussed. Coming up on the show soon, a life coach that's had a profound effect on a number of guests that we've hosted here on the show over the years. He has agreed to join us. He doesn't do a lot of appearances like this, so it'll be great. We'll hear directly from Daniel Thomas Hind, and how he transforms the lives of so many business people and investors professionally, physically, and mentally. I'm confident that it's going to help you get more out of life too. Until next week, I'm your host, Keith Weinhold. Don't quit your daydream.   Speaker 1  41:45   Nothing on this show should be considered specific personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial, or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own. Information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss, the host is operating on behalf of Get Rich Education LLC exclusively.    Keith Weinhold  42:13   The preceding program was brought to you by Your Home for Wealth Building, getricheducation.com.

Today, Mimi and Phil discuss Non-Qualified Mortgages, home loans that fall outside the standard lending rules established by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau., like Debt Service Coverage Ratio loans for real estate investors, and The Bank Statement Program, designed for self-employed people. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, Chris Willis, Lori Sommerfield, Taylor Gess, and Lane Page discuss the CFPB's sweeping final amendments to Subpart A of Regulation B. The group unpacks the elimination of the disparate impact legal theory from ECOA, the narrowing of the discouragement standard (including what it means for targeted advertising), and the significant new limits on special purpose credit programs (SPCPs). They also explore expected litigation challenges, the continuing role of the Fair Housing Act and state laws in bringing cases under the disparate impact theory, and the practical steps lenders should be taking now to reassess fair lending testing, SPCP design, and redlining risk in light of the final rule. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

New data from WalletHub shows credit card interest rates on new offers are falling, but annual fees and consumer complaints are continuing to climb. Billing-related complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also saw a sharp increase during the first quarter of 2026. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed with the latest news from a leading Black-owned & controlled media company: https://aurn.com/newsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

President Donald Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Trump calls Xi a  "great leader" and a "friend," says China wants to help end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz and touts that China will buy 200 Boeing jet planes. Xi calls the U.S.-China relationship the most important in the world, but warns disagreements over Taiwan could lead to conflict; CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper tells the Senate Armed Services Committee the U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran achieved all objectives to "significantly degrade" Iran's military capabilities, but Iran still has some left to threaten ships; House defeats for a third time an Iran War Powers Act resolution brought by Democrats to force President Trump to end the war; U.S. Ambassador to the UN Michael Waltz announces the U.S. will contribute another $1.8 billion in humanitarian aid, on top of $2 billion previously pledged; Vice President JD Vance travels to Bangor, Maine, to discuss his White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud; Senate defeats a Democratic effort to restore a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule on bank overdraft fees; House passes a Republican-sponsored bill to put restrictions on companies and non-profits that put up money for criminal defendants to post bail; ATF Director testifies before a House Subcommittee about firearms tracing, tracking the movement of guns used in or suspected of being used in crimes, and what happens to that data. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Capital for Good we speak with Marla Blow, the president and CEO of the Skoll Foundation, the leading philanthropy focused on social entrepreneurship and innovation around the world. Over the course of this conversation, we learn how Blow's career in finance and financial inclusion, across the private and public sectors, would prepare her to lead a dynamic institution and community of innovators in this era of extraordinary change — and resilience.   We begin with important elements of Blow's origin story, including her childhood outside of Atlanta, a city (then) on the precipice of rapid growth, where she was drawn to the idea of helping people translate opportunity into long-term financial security. "I thought I could help people make better decisions," she said. That instinct would carry her to Wharton, Wall Street, an MBA at Stanford, and to Capital One, where she learned the discipline of applied behavioral economics and consumer lending. In the Obama Administration, Blow joined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where she began to see more clearly the full landscape of American consumers — including those who were not well served by the traditional financial system or many of its products. That realization led her to found FS Card Inc to provide fairly priced credit to underserved consumers, an experience Blow describes as a "crash course" in entrepreneurship and the capital markets. Following the successful sale of FS Card, Blow helped lead Mastercard's Center for Inclusive Growth, where she was able to pursue financial inclusion at scale.   Blow speaks candidly about the extraordinary moment in which she assumed the CEO role at Skoll in 2025. The dismantling of USAID and broader cutbacks of support to and from multilateral finance institutions sent seismic shocks through the social entrepreneurship ecosystem that Skoll has supported since 1999. "I don't think any of us could have predicted that things would shift in this magnitude, or that they would shift this quickly," she says. And yet, Blow also describes with great admiration the resilience of individuals and organizations "that have been able to figure out how to pivot," efforts the foundation supported with a $25 million "pivot fund." Blow draws on the analogy of a forest of seemingly freestanding trees that are deeply interconnected beneath the surface. "It's the roots that enable them to transmit nutrients, to transmit information, to rebuild and regrow after absorbing and experiencing a shock," she says.   We also discuss a signature dimension of Skoll's work: the role of catalytic capital in driving impact. Today, approximately 80 percent of Skoll's endowment, managed in partnership with the Capricorn Investment Group, is aligned with the foundation's impact objectives in climate change mitigation and resilience, economic opportunity, health care, and responsible stewardship. Blow explains that these kinds of investments are not concessionary — their "financial returns continue to meet or exceed the performance of comparable asset classes" — and are exemplified by social enterprises like Apis & Heritage Capital Partners, a 2025 Skoll Award recipient that transitions small businesses to employee ownership – and has enabled main street workers to increase their net worth by a factor of ten.   We close with Blow's sources of optimism. They begin, she explains, with community — the cross-ideological partnership emerging across philanthropy, the private sector's increased engagement, the deep networks built over more than two decades of convening social entrepreneurs at the Skoll World Forum. "We are going through something, it's going to take a toll," she says. "And there is a light on the other side of it. We can continue working toward that light."   Mentioned in this episode: The Skoll Foundation Skoll World Forum Transformation and Renewal in the Impact Ecosystem, The Skoll Foundation 2026 Annual Letter Capricorn Investment Group Evolving Philanthropy for Collective Action, (Stanford Social Innovation Review, Blow & Gips, 2024) Apis & Heritage Capital Partners Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth  

Episode #529: Daniel Dodd is one of the two center teachers at Dhamma Patapa, a Vipassana meditation center in Georgia in the tradition of S.N. Goenka. Alongside his work as a meditation practitioner and teacher, he has built a career in community organizing, nonprofit leadership, and federal service focused on low-income communities. But it has not been an easy journey. Dodd was born in Brazil to a Colombian mother and an American father. The family later moved to the United States, and much of his childhood unfolded in rural Maine after his parents separated. His mother raised three children on a homestead without plumbing, where daily life required endurance and adaptability. His adolescence and early adulthood were marked by confusion and drift: He struggled in school, barely graduating, and began drinking and smoking marijuana, uncertain about his future, an angry and agitated young man. A period teaching English in Bogotá during Colombia's violent drug-war years broadened his outlook but did not resolve deeper internal struggles. After a painful breakup left him feeling unmoored, he took a ten-day Vipassana retreat. The experience proved transformative, and meditation gradually became the organizing center of his life. Rather than turning away from society, the practice deepened his awareness of suffering's personal and social dimensions. That perspective guided his later work organizing low-income communities and eventually serving at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. For Dodd, meditation does not remove concern about injustice; it changes how that concern is carried. As he reflects near the end of the conversation, “We're all kind of trying to figure these things out and become better people as we're sitting and living our lives.”

Criar a un hijo no viene con manual… pero sí con decisiones que marcan para toda la vida.En este episodio hablamos de esos factores clave que muchas veces pasamos por alto en la crianza: la forma en la que comunicamos, los límites que ponemos, el ejemplo que damos y las heridas que, sin querer, también podemos transmitir.Porque no se trata de ser padres perfectos, sino de ser conscientes. De entender qué tipo de adultos estamos formando con cada palabra, cada reacción y cada silencio.Si alguna vez te has preguntado si lo estás haciendo bien, este episodio es para ti… y puede que te incomode un poco (pero de eso se trata

Millions of illegal aliens flooded into America during the Biden administration and previous years.    They were given cash, food, shelter, and many other benefits.    There is even a scholarship specifically for illegals. The Dream US is the nation's largest program for undocumented immigrant students. Illegals get $33,000 for a bachelor's degree. They have awarded over 12,000 scholarships to date.   The lynchpin for these giveaways is the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number or ITIN. This is a quasi-Social Security number given only to foreigners.   ITIN's also enable illegal aliens to purchase homes, often financed with taxpayer dollars. Our government even advised illegal aliens on how to buy homes against American citizens. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau advertised that some lenders had mortgage programs tailored for ITIN holders without proof of legal residency on their website.   This put illegal aliens in direct competition with American citizens.The US already had a housing shortage. This competition further drove up housing prices.    The H-1B visa is marketed as a global talent program, yet 71% of all approvals go to one country, India.   This is not global. This is a pipeline from one country to outsource cheap labor.    Companies must sign a form under oath they can't find qualified Americans to hire an H-1B worker.   The top 5 companies over the past 15 years stated 314,100 times no American were available. They fired 99,000 Americans at the same time.   Dream Home Mortgage advertises H-1B Visa mortgages with no US credit.    This further creates more competition for homes with US citizens and drives up prices.     JP Morgan recently released a study titled "Annuities Improve Outcomes"   The study compared a number of scenarios replacing the bond portion of a 60/40 equity/bond portfolio to variable annuities and fixed-index annuities.   The likelihood of success of not running out of money in retirement was lowest with the 60/40 equity/bond portfolio.    Variable annuities improved the likelihood of success.   Fixed index annuities provided the highest likelihood of success of not running out of money in retirement in every scenario.   The JP Morgan study did not compare using the best fixed index annuity products available.    Contact Ferenc at ferenc@yourpersonalbank.com or 268-268-4422 to find the best index annuity product available for your situation.

In this episode of Hiring to Firing, hosts Tracey Diamond and Emily Schifter are joined by their Troutman Pepper Locke colleague, Carlin McCrory, co-host of the Payment Pros podcast. Together, they explore the emerging world of earned wage access (EWA), or on-demand pay, through the lens of the entrepreneurial reality TV show Shark Tank. The conversation examines the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's shifting approach, rapidly developing (and sometimes conflicting) state laws, and the wage and hour and payroll challenges that can arise when employees access their pay early. They also discuss how EWA can be a powerful recruitment and retention tool, the risks of turning a benefit into a "loan in sheep's clothing," and practical steps HR and in-house counsel can take when vetting vendors or considering in-house EWA programs. Tune in to see if EWA is the kind of pitch your HR "sharks" should back — or one that ought to be met with, "And for that reason, I'm out." Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Imagine a blueprint so ambitious it aims to remake the entire U.S. federal government from the ground up. That's Project 2025, launched in April 2023 by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, as detailed in its 900-page Mandate for Leadership document. According to the Heritage Foundation's own publication, the plan seeks to "deconstruct the centralized administrative state" by consolidating power in the presidency and installing loyalists across agencies.[8]At its core, Project 2025 outlines four pillars: a policy agenda, personnel database, training academy, and a 180-day playbook of executive orders ready for Day One. Key proposals target federal agencies head-on. It calls for dismantling the Department of Education, handing education oversight to states, and eliminating the Department of Homeland Security, privatizing the Transportation Security Administration despite its post-9/11 role in national security, as noted by the American Federation of Government Employees.[2] The FBI and Department of Justice would fall under direct White House control, with the FBI director personally accountable to the president; the Mandate describes the DOJ as a "bloated bureaucracy" pushing a "radical liberal agenda."[1][8]Reforms extend to reinstating Schedule F, reclassifying up to 500,000 civil service jobs as political roles for easier firing and hiring of ideologues. The plan urges cutting corporate taxes, imposing a flat income tax, slashing Medicare and Medicaid, and abolishing agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission to curb antitrust enforcement.[1] Environmental regulations would shrink, and DEI efforts banned government-wide.Experts warn of profound implications. The ACLU highlights risks to civil liberties, including exploiting warrantless surveillance and ending protections against discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation.[5] AFGE President Everett Kelley calls it a "takeover... not loyal to the Constitution," potentially costing a million federal jobs.[2]By February 2026, the Center for Progressive Reform reports the Trump administration has initiated or completed 53 percent of Project 2025's domestic agenda across 20 agencies, from regulatory rollbacks to personnel shifts.[7] This illustrates the project's sweeping ambition, blending stated goals of efficiency with critics' fears of authoritarian overreach.Looking ahead, midterm elections and court challenges loom as pivotal decision points. Thank you for tuning in, listeners—come back next week for more.Some great Deals https://amzn.to/49SJ3QsFor more check out http://www.quietplease.aiThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

Imagine a blueprint for remaking America's government from the ground up, drawn by conservative powerhouses like the Heritage Foundation. That's Project 2025, a 900-page manifesto unveiled in April 2023, now thrusting into reality under President Trump's second term. According to the Heritage Foundation's “Mandate for Leadership,” it aims to “dismantle the administrative state”—those federal agencies seen as bloated and unaccountable—by consolidating power in the White House.The plan kicks off with a radical workforce overhaul. It revives Schedule F, reclassifying up to 500,000 career civil servants in policy roles as at-will employees, stripping job protections to install political loyalists on day one. The AFGE warns this could eliminate up to a million federal jobs through cuts, freezes, and privatization. Already, Trump's Executive Order has begun remaking the workforce, as noted in a White House fact sheet, while Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency—DOGE—has fired thousands, shuttering agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a Project 2025 target that returned $21 billion to scam victims, per Government Executive reporting.Agency by agency, the ambition unfolds. The Department of Homeland Security and TSA face elimination or privatization, risking post-9/11 security gains, says the AFGE. The Department of Education would vanish, shifting funds to states and gutting anti-discrimination rules on gender and sexual orientation. FEMA moves to Interior or Transportation, offloading disaster costs to locals. The ACLU highlights plans to abuse warrantless surveillance, dismantling DOJ and FBI independence under unitary executive theory.Proponents, like those in the Mandate, declare, “The unelected administrative state is antithetical to our constitutional system of divided powers.” Critics, including the Brennan Center, see threats to democracy, civil rights, and impartial justice. The Supreme Court's Loper Bright ruling, overturning Chevron deference, bolsters this by curbing agency rulemaking, aligning perfectly with the project's vision.These changes ripple through taxes—pushing a flat rate and corporate cuts—Medicare trims, and reversed Biden policies, illustrating a sweeping bid to shrink government and amplify presidential control.Looking ahead, court battles over DOGE firings loom, with judges reinstating some workers, and midterm elections could test this overhaul. As implementation accelerates, America watches a high-stakes experiment in governance.Thanks for tuning in, listeners. Come back next week for more.Some great Deals https://amzn.to/49SJ3QsFor more check out http://www.quietplease.aiThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

The financial industry is supposed to be our economy's plumbing, quietly channeling capital to investments where it's needed most. But in today's system, that plumbing is leaking. From rising credit card rates and opaque lending products to the decline of local banking and the growth of speculative activity, the financial sector is increasingly disconnected from the real economy it was built to serve.Rohit Chopra, former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, joins Oren to examine how finance lost its purpose and what it would take to restore it. They discuss the limits of regulation versus enforcement, the rise of non-bank financial products, and the growing concentration of credit markets. They also consider whether novel activities like online sports betting and prediction represent genuine innovation or simply new ways to extract more money from consumers.

Learn how to prepare for early retirement and deal with credit report errors that won't go away. Why are credit report errors getting harder to fix? How do you prepare for retirement if you may have to stop working earlier than expected? Hosts Sean Pyles and Elizabeth Ayoola discuss early retirement planning to help you understand how to build a backup plan before an income shock forces your hand. But first, news writer Anna Helhoski joins Sean Pyles to discuss ProPublica's reporting on weaker Consumer Financial Protection Bureau oversight and credit bureau complaint handling with Joel Jacobs, data reporter at ProPublica. They discuss falling relief rates at Experian and TransUnion, how errors can damage borrowing and housing options, and what records to keep when you challenge a mistake. Then, after a prompt from listener Lisa, Sean and Elizabeth discuss preparing for an early or forced retirement. They discuss how to pressure-test your nest egg with a CFP, how tools like the 72(t) rule and Social Security can help cover an income gap before age 59½, and how part-time work, lower debt, and cheaper housing can make an unexpected retirement more manageable. Thrivent article: https://www.thrivent.com/insights/social-security/social-security-break-even-point-what-it-is-how-to-calculate-yours#how-to-calculate Want us to review your budget? Fill out this form — completely anonymously if you want — and we might feature your budget in a future segment! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScK53yAufsc4v5UpghhVfxtk2MoyooHzlSIRBnRxUPl3hKBig/viewform?usp=header To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email podcast@nerdwallet.com. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast our host, Alan Kaplinsky, discusses the rapidly evolving landscape of federal financial supervision with Sherra Brown, Head of Regulatory Research and Analysis for the Americas at Vixio Regulatory Intelligence. Our conversation focuses on what may be a fundamental shift in supervisory practices at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the implications of parallel changes at the federal banking agencies. Recent reports suggest that the CFPB may dramatically scale back its supervisory program—potentially reducing the number of examinations from roughly 600 annually to about 70, conducting examinations entirely virtually, narrowing the scope of reviews, and even Introducing a so-called "humility pledge" for examiners. If implemented, these developments would represent a significant departure from the Bureau's prior supervisory posture. At the same time, the federal prudential banking regulators—the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Federal Reserve Board—are moving toward a more risk-focused examination model, eliminating "reputation risk" as a supervisory category and signaling a broader effort to reduce regulatory burden. Below are several key themes from our discussion. Possible Structural Changes to CFPB Supervision Sherra and Alan discussed reports that the CFPB could significantly reduce the scope and frequency of its supervisory examinations. The Bureau may move toward a model involving: 1.     Fully virtual examinations 2.     A dramatically smaller number of exams each year 3.     Narrower, risk-focused review areas 4.     Greater reliance on institutions' internal compliance testing The shift could also reflect staffing reductions and broader policy priorities under the current administration. While virtual examinations are not new, as they were widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic, the potential reduction in exam scope and volume would mark a major change. As Sherra noted, a narrower supervisory footprint raises an important question: is the Bureau fundamentally redesigning its supervisory model or simply doing the minimum necessary while its future remains uncertain? What a Virtual Examination Looks Like For institutions that have not experienced a virtual exam, the process is procedurally similar to traditional on-site supervision. Institutions typically receive a document request list and must provide materials electronically. Interviews and meetings with examiners occur via videoconference. However, the key difference is relational. Virtual supervision makes it harder for examiners and institutions to build the working relationships that often facilitate dialogue and clarification during an on-site review. Data integrity, document accessibility, and centralized record management become even more important in a virtual environment. Likely Areas of CFPB Focus Although the Bureau has not yet clearly identified which institutions will be examined, Sherra suggested that the focus will likely be on large banks rather than non-bank entities. She also noted that several areas historically emphasized by the CFPB appear unlikely to receive the same attention going forward. For example, the Bureau has backed away from certain fair-lending theories such as disparate impact. One area that appears likely to remain a priority is protections for service members, including compliance with the Military Lending Act. Prudential Regulators: A Parallel Shift While the CFPB's future direction remains uncertain, the prudential regulators have continued their examination programs. One of the most notable developments is the elimination of "reputation risk" as a supervisory category. The OCC has already removed it from examination practices, and both the FDIC and Federal Reserve have indicated similar intentions. Historically, reputation risk sometimes served as a catch-all category allowing regulators to pressure institutions even when no specific legal violation was identified. Its removal is part of a broader effort to focus supervision on clearly defined financial, operational, and compliance risks. At the same time, regulators appear to be tailoring examination intensity more carefully based on institutional size and risk profile, potentially reducing the burden on community banks. Compliance Should Not Be Relaxed Despite the apparent reduction in federal supervisory activity, Sherra emphasized that institutions should not weaken their compliance management systems. Several factors make continued vigilance essential: 1.     State attorneys general remain active in consumer protection enforcement. 2.     Private litigation risk persists. 3.     Future administrations could revive aggressive federal supervision, potentially accompanied by look-back reviews. Strong documentation, robust complaint management processes, and clear audit trails remain essential. The Growing Role of States Another important theme from our discussion is the expanding role of state enforcement. Several states, including New York, California, and Massachusetts, have signaled their intention to fill any perceived gaps left by reduced federal oversight. State regulators and attorneys general continue to focus on issues such as fair lending, consumer protection violations, and deceptive practices. Accordingly, institutions operating nationally must consider not only federal expectations but also evolving state regulatory priorities. Five Practical Takeaways Five key takeaways for financial institutions navigating this changing supervisory environment are: 1.     Fewer examinations do not mean less regulatory risk. 2.     Complaint management and data analytics will become increasingly important. 3.     Documentation discipline is even more critical in a virtual examination environment. 4.     Institutions should not weaken their compliance management systems. 5.     Board and senior management oversight remain essential. In short, while federal supervision may be evolving, the fundamental expectations for sound compliance and risk management remain unchanged. Listeners can access the full discussion on the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast, where Sherra Brown provides valuable insight into what may be one of the most significant shifts in federal financial supervision in recent years. Consumer Finance Monitor is hosted by Alan Kaplinsky, Senior Counsel at Ballard Spahr, and the founder and former chair of the firm's Consumer Financial Services Group. We encourage listeners to subscribe to the podcast on their preferred platform for weekly insights into developments in the consumer finance industry.

A new Office of Personnel Management hub for shared human resources services is open for business, the agency announced Tuesday. In a memo to federal agency leaders, OPM Director Scott Kupor said the HR Shared Service Center aims to “reduce fragmentation” within the government and allow agency staff to focus on their mission rather than administrative work. Per the memo, that new center provides a “comprehensive” suite of functions, such as benefits management, payroll administration, performance management, recruitment, training, and workforce planning. Using those services is voluntary for agencies and is a fee-for-service model. At least eight federal entities have already indicated they will make the transition, per the memo. Those include the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Office of Government Ethics, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The announcement is the latest development in the Trump administration's broader push to consolidate HR services across the government. That plan, called “Federal HR 2.0,” aims to create a single personnel management platform for the federal government as a way to save money and reduce duplicative systems. The Federal Aviation Administration is gathering information from potential private-sector partners to inform the buildout of its defenses against cyber and quantum threats, according to documents published this month. The cybersecurity-focused market survey and quantum-related request for information are targeting the systems at the core of the Department of Transportation component's multiyear, multibillion dollar modernization initiative: the National Airspace System and Air Traffic Control. The FAA is looking for vendors that could improve its information security and operations, such as penetration testing, vulnerability evaluations and incident response coordination among other tasks. The scope of the project also includes assessing the current NAS cybersecurity posture to identify capability gaps, test emerging tech tools and recommend improvements. The DOT component is also planning to move its NAS, ATC and IT systems infrastructure to post-quantum cryptography, a concept centered around mitigating attacks from future quantum computers by adopting new encryption methods. “Without quantum‑resistant, crypto‑agile security, the NAS cannot achieve the reliability, performance, or international leadership required in the decades ahead,” the FAA said in its RFI published last week. “FAA therefore views PQC not as a compliance exercise, but as a foundational enabler of modernization — one that must be embedded into every vendor solution, every system upgrade, and every step of the Brand New Air Traffic Control System.” The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Two of the three major credit bureaus are dismissing a larger share of consumer complaints. At the same time, the Trump administration has attempted to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — the government watchdog agency established following the Great Recession. Today, we'll delve into what it means for consumer protections. Also, the price of a barrel of Brent crude is about 50% higher than it was a month ago. Where do things go from here?

Two of the three major credit bureaus are dismissing a larger share of consumer complaints. At the same time, the Trump administration has attempted to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — the government watchdog agency established following the Great Recession. Today, we'll delve into what it means for consumer protections. Also, the price of a barrel of Brent crude is about 50% higher than it was a month ago. Where do things go from here?

Kathy Kraninger has seen the banking system from both sides of the regulatory divide. The former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and now president and CEO of the Florida Bankers Association joins the show to discuss whether Washington is undergoing a regulatory "recalibration" including everything from whether banks will be required to collect citizenship information to the growing challenges banks face from fraud, scams, and rapidly evolving technologies like artificial intelligence. 

What if the best financial advice isn't new—but simply forgotten? In this episode of Earn & Invest, Doc G sits down with historian Joseph S. Moore, author of How to Get Rich in American History: 300 Years of Financial Advice That Worked—and Didn't. Moore spent a decade exploring centuries of advice aimed at everyday Americans, testing which strategies actually worked—and which didn't. Remarkably, his research led him to build a seven-figure net worth using lessons from the past. Moore's journey began with a personal financial scare: after taking a risky “NINJA loan” to buy a townhouse in 2005, he realized his vulnerability as the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 approached. Selling his home just in time sparked a curiosity that would consume the next decade. One of his most surprising findings? Optimism is a powerful predictor of financial success. Research from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shows that believing you can shape your financial future often outweighs inheritance or education. Moore argues that financial “gurus,” often dismissed for overhyping strategies, actually provide hope and practical frameworks that help people take action. We also explore how many “modern” wealth tactics are centuries old. House hacking—renting out spare rooms to pay a mortgage—was once a standard working-class strategy, frequently managed by women whose contributions rarely appeared in official statistics. Mobility was another forgotten tactic; in the 1800s, roughly one in three Americans moved annually to chase opportunity. Moore introduces the concepts of slow time and fast time: slow time is when we build skills, capital, and relationships; fast time is when booms, crashes, or major shifts create opportunities. Those prepared in slow time can seize advantage when fast time arrives. We also discuss concentration vs. diversification, the myth of effortless compound returns, and why financial independence isn't the finish line—it's the point when life becomes flexible enough to pursue meaningful goals. For anyone curious about wealth-building, historical financial strategies, or the patterns behind money and opportunity, this episode offers practical insights drawn from 300 years of experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau less active and running with fewer resources, many states no longer get the data they need to finish their own consumer protection cases. A new multistate lawsuit aims to restore the bureau's full funding. We wanted to understand what that means for states like Maryland, so Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with Bill Meeks, Director of the Lending and Finance Unit in the Consumer Protection Division for Maryland's Attorney General.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's Fun Day Monday on The Majority Report On today's program: Trump announces strikes on Iran and says that Americans will die as it often happens in war. An Omani foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, is shedding light on negotiations involving Kushner, Witkoff, and Iran. According to the Albusaidi, Iran was willing to go as far as not stockpiling any nuclear material that could be used to build a bomb—a significant concession in the talks. However, the foreign minister indicated that the U.S. side either did not fully understand or was unwilling to engage with this offer, raising questions about how the negotiations were handled. For guests today, we're speaking with three candidates running for Congress: Alexis Goldstein — A former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau staffer who was laid off during the DOGE cuts, now in the Democratic primary for Maryland's 6th District. Anabel Mendoza — An immigrant rights organizer running the Democratic primary in Illinois' 7th District. Junaid Ahmed — A Bernie-backed candidate running in the Democratic primary for Illinois' 8th District. In the Fun Half:   Hegseth claims that we didn't start this war (thought it wasn't a war), but we will finish it. Hegseth goes on to say to that this is not a regime-change operation, but the regime did change.   Trump claims that the mission in Iran was so successful that they killed the top three choices for successors to the regime. Whoops!   Rep. Luna(tic) from Florida goes on MS NOW and humiliates herself as she shills for the war on Iran. Claiming Iran has killed thousands of Americans   all that and more   To connect and organize with your local ICE rapid response team visit ICERRT.com The Congress switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. You can use this number to connect with either the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives. Follow us on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase Check out today's sponsors: ZOCDOC: Go to Zocdoc.com/MAJORITY and download the Zocdoc app to sign-up for FREE and book a top-rated doctor WILD GRAIN: Get $30 off your first box + free Croissants in every box. Go to Wildgrain.com/MAJORITY to start your subscription. SMALLS: For a limited time, get 60% off your first order, plus free shipping, when you head to Smalls.com/majority SUNSET LAKE: Use coupon code "Left Is Best" (all one word) for 20% off of your entire order at SunsetLakeCBD.com  Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech On Instagram: @MrBryanVokey Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on YouTube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com

In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, host Chris Willis examines signs that the CFPB is reactivating its supervisory and enforcement functions after a period of relative inactivity. The discussion notes reports that the CFPB plans to restart supervisory exams — likely remote, less burdensome, and focused on large banks — and raises questions about whether those exams will address debanking, despite the CFPB's limited jurisdiction over nonconsumer banking relationships. The conversation also underscores that some previously dormant enforcement investigations are being revived, indicating a return to a more active CFPB. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Join two 25-year veterans representing the elder justice profession as they provide an overview of the troubling trends they have seen with the burgeoning problem of elder abuse. Their focus will be on financial exploitation—perpetrated by a broad spectrum of offenders, including strangers and people known to their older targets.  The presenters will also address key challenges and threats to the physical and financial safety of older people, including the proposed dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its Office for Older Americans, along with other concerning issues at the federal, state and local level that are leaving thousands of older people at the mercy of financial predators. Topics will include financial grooming (a.k.a. “pig-butchering”), crypto scams, romance scams, and the growth of transnational crime rings that are targeting American seniors to the tune of billions in losses. About the Speakers Jenefer Duane is an elder justice advocate and consultant. Duane is a former senior program analyst in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) Office for Older Americans. With 40 years in aging services and consumer protection, she specializes in prevention, response, investigation, prosecution and resolution of cases of elder financial exploitation. At the CFPB, she led the development of the national Elder Financial Protection and Response Network program. She was the agency lead for the award-winning Money Smart for Older Adults program with the FDIC. She also led several CFPB-FinCin initiatives to strengthen the suspicious-activity reporting and investigation of elder financial exploitation.  Paul Greenwood is a former deputy district attorney and an AARP consultant. Greenwood headed up the Elder Abuse Prosecution Unit at the San Diego DA's Office for 22 years. In 1999 California Lawyer magazine named Paul as one of their top 20 lawyers of the year in recognition of his pioneering efforts to pursue justice on behalf of senior citizens. He has prosecuted more than 750 felony cases of physical, sexual, emotional and financial elder abuse. He has also prosecuted 10 murder cases, including one death penalty case. In March 2018 Greenwood retired from the San Diego DA's office to concentrate on sharing lessons learned from his elder abuse prosecutions with a wider audience. In October 2018 he was given a lifetime achievement award by his former office. Greenwood now spends much of his post retirement time speaking on behalf of AARP nationally, consulting on elder abuse cases, testifying as an expert witness and providing trainings to law enforcement and Adult Protective Services agencies across the country and internationally. He is also involved as the criminal justice board member of the National Adult Protective Services Association. A Grownups Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Organizer: Denise Michaud  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send a textOn this episode of the Get Ready Before Life Happens Podcast, I spoke with Brandon Lovingier, Founder of Military Money, about the tactics financial predators use and how military members (and all of us) can stay one step ahead.Key Takeaways:

Who controls your financial data and who decides how it can be used? As Americans increasingly rely on digital banking, apps, and financial technology tools, that question has moved to the forefront of a policy debate that may come to a head in the coming months.Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act is currently under review by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, prompting renewed debate over how consumers should access their own financial information and decide how it is shared. Translating that principle into practice, raises significant legal and policy questions about whether current regulatory and market structures truly empower consumers or instead concentrate control over data into the hands of banksThis webinar will examine open banking through a consumer-centered legal lens, focusing on how rules governing data access, privacy, and consent impact real-world choice. Panelists will discuss how bank-centric approaches may prioritize institutional preferences over consumer autonomy, potentially limiting Americans’ ability to use innovative financial tools that rely on secure, authorized data sharing.Throughout the program, panelists will evaluate the CFPB’s Section 1033 rulemaking and consider whether a consumer-directed approach to financial data can both defend consumer’s right to their own data and foster innovation.Featuring:Paul Watkins, Managing Partner, Fusion Law PLLCProf. Todd Zywicki, George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University(Moderator) Will Hild, Executive Director, Consumers Research

Welcome to The Chrisman Commentary, your go-to daily mortgage news podcast, where industry insights meet expert analysis. Hosted by Robbie Chrisman, this podcast delivers the latest updates on mortgage rates, capital markets, and the forces shaping the housing finance landscape. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just looking to stay informed, you'll get clear, concise breakdowns of market trends and economic shifts that impact the mortgage world.In today's episode, we go through the latest update from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Plus, Robbie sits down with Curinos' Ken Flaherty, Josh Beane, and Rich Martin for a discussion on key 2025 performance trends across first mortgage, home equity, and unsecured lending, as well as 2026 forecasts and assumptions for each vertical, and the strategic priorities lenders should focus on to grow profitably in the year ahead. And we close by talking about why we've seen a drop in mortgage applications.Thank you to Truework, the one verification solution to replace in-house waterfalls. Verify any borrower with a VOIE solution that automates the entire process to quickly deliver the most accurate and complete reports with broad GSE coverage.

A new slate of leaders is poised to make its mark on the US audit board and launch the next chapter for the embattled regulator. Among those set to serve on the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board are two administration officials who have held key roles at federal agencies targeted by a White House campaign to hobble federal agencies and derail regulations. Those agencies include the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the National Credit Union Administration. The PCAOB last year was also caught up in the administration's efforts to rein in the federal bureaucracy. Republican lawmakers attempted to sunset the board and hand its duties over to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees the board and named the new leaders. On this episode of Talking Tax, Senior Reporter Amanda Iacone discusses the incoming board members and what this latest leadership shake-up means for the future of the independent audit regulator. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

In this episode, we speak with Tyler Creighton about the ongoing struggle to save the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from defunding and closure at the hands of Russell Vought in the second Trump Administration. Creighton is a lawyer at the CFPB and a member of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), Chapter 335. Before joining the CFPB, Creighton clerked for the Massachusetts Appeals Court and, prior to that, he was an organizer for pro-democracy reforms at Common Cause and ReThink Media. We talk with Creighton about life at the CFPB under the leadership of Vought, central architect of the notorious Project 2025 document and avowed opponent of the agency he now directs. During our conversation, Creighton details how, in spite of Vought's attempts to defund and close the agency, the CFPB continues to survive. In Creighton's telling, the agency's endurance owes in no small part to the continuous labor actions undertaken by the NTEU and its members. In February 2025, for example, the union sued the Trump Administration, securing an injunction against Vought's efforts to close the agency. (Read the judge's extraordinary Memorandum Opinion here.) Then, in late December, a federal district court judge ruled that the Trump administration must continue to fund the CFPB through the Federal Reserve, contradicting Vought's absurd claim that the CFPB can no longer seek financing from the Fed because the nation's Central Bank is operating at a loss.Despite the NTEU's string of successes, the fate of the CFPB still remains to be determined. The good news, however, is that there are ways that you can support the bureau as it rounds into its second year of the second Trump Administration. Learn more about the fight to save the CFPB from the CFPB Union website. Follow and share news from the NTEU account on Bluesky. Join the union's public demonstrations, if you live near or find yourself visiting Washington D.C. You can also help fund the NTEU's activities by purchasing any number of cheeky items in their online merchandise shop. Visit our Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/MoLsuperstructureMusic by Nahneen Kula: www.nahneenkula.com

A new nationwide class action lawsuit is accusing Rocket Companies of illegally steering homebuyers toward its mortgage and closing products — even when better rates may have been available elsewhere. The lawsuit alleges Rocket and its affiliates pressured real estate agents, including those at Redfin, to funnel clients to Rocket Mortgage and its title company, potentially violating the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, or RESPA. Rocket denies the allegations and says it will vigorously defend itself. In this episode, Kathy Fettke breaks down what the lawsuit claims, how the alleged referral arrangements worked, why the case references a prior Consumer Financial Protection Bureau investigation, and what this could mean for mortgage competition, agent referrals, and consumer choice going forward. Want to learn more? Visit www.Newsforinvestors.com  Source: https://www.scotsmanguide.com/news/class-action-lawsuit-accuses-rocket-of-illegal-steering-scheme/

In this episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast, we examine one of the most closely watched and increasingly controversial developments in consumer finance: earned wage access (EWA) products. EWA products allow workers to access a portion of wages they have already earned before their scheduled payday. Proponents describe these products as a valuable financial tool that helps consumers manage cash-flow shortfalls without resorting to traditional payday loans. Critics, including the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), argue that EWA products function as high-cost credit, often involving opaque fees that can trap consumers in cycles of debt. Our panel brings together industry and advocacy perspectives to explore the research, legal arguments, and regulatory uncertainty surrounding EWA, a market that has grown rapidly but remains unevenly regulated. Meet the Speakers ·        Alan Kaplinsky – Host and moderator. Founder and former Practice Group Leader of Ballard Spahr's Consumer Financial Services Group; now Senior Counsel. ·        Lucia Constantine – Senior Researcher at the Center for Responsible Lending, focusing on mortgage lending and predatory debt practices. ·        Yasmin Farahi – Deputy Director of State Policy and Senior Policy Counsel at CRL, specializing in small-dollar lending and state consumer protection initiatives. ·        Joseph Schuster – Partner in Consumer Financial Services Group at Ballard Spahr, with extensive experience advising on earned wage access products and their legal and regulatory treatment. Key Topics Covered in the Episode ·        What Is Earned Wage Access? An overview of EWA products, how they operate, and why they have become a focal point for regulators and consumer advocates. ·        Consumer Protection vs. Industry InnovationCRL presents research suggesting that EWA products operate as high-cost credit and may contribute to debt accumulation, while industry participants argue the products provide needed liquidity and differ fundamentally from traditional loans. ·        Fees, Tips, and Consumer Understanding A discussion of common pricing models, including expedited access fees and voluntary "tips," and whether consumers fully understand the true cost of using EWA services. ·        Research Findings CRL reviews studies conducted by it based on anonymized transaction data indicating frequent repeat usage, escalating fees, and increased overdraft activity among some users. ·        The Regulatory and Legal Landscape An examination of ongoing litigation, divergent state approaches, and federal regulatory ambiguity. While some states regulate EWA as credit, others have carved out exemptions. Courts are increasingly being asked to determine whether EWA products constitute "loans" under existing law. ·        Industry Responses and SafeguardsDiscussion of non-recourse structures, voluntary fee models, and industry-led efforts to mitigate consumer harm. ·        Policy Outlook Consideration of congressional interest, state-level reform efforts, and the likelihood of future regulatory intervention. Why This Episode Matters The debate over earned wage access is still in its early stages, but the outcome will have significant implications for fintech providers, employers, consumers, and regulators. This episode provides essential context and analysis for financial services professionals seeking to understand how EWA fits within existing consumer credit frameworks, and how that framework may change. Consumer Finance Monitor is hosted by Alan Kaplinsky, Senior Counsel at Ballard Spahr and founder and former chair of the firm's Consumer Financial Services Group. We invite you to subscribe on your preferred podcast platform for weekly insights into key developments in consumer financial services law and regulation. Since its recording, there have been a few developments relevant to this episode. For instance, on December 22, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an advisory opinion that states the Truth In Lending Act (TILA) does not apply to certain "earned wage access (EWA) products," and it rescinds a proposed interpretive rule issued under former CFPB Director Chopra that classified these products as credit subject to TILA with their fees considered finance charges. The Center for Responsible Lending expressed opposition to this latest advisory opinion. On January 13, 2025, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on financial technology that included consideration of draft legislation on "Earned Wage Access," which CRL refers to as "payday loan apps." Around 200 nonprofits have written to Congress about their opposition to the version of this bill as introduced last session of congress.

Find a bank that pays more, charges less, and keeps your money safe as rates adjust in 2026. How do you choose the best bank when savings rates are falling and fees won't quit? Hosts Sean Pyles and Elizabeth Ayoola discuss wealth inequality and retirement security to help you think bigger about what's “normal” in personal finance. They begin with a rapid-fire hot takes segment, with their perspectives on how money and power shape everyday life, why the decline of pensions shifts retirement risk onto workers, and questions worth asking about what a fairer safety net could look like. Then, banking Nerd Chanelle Bessette joins Sean and Elizabeth to discuss banking in 2026. They go over how to compare high-yield savings accounts as APYs drop, how to avoid common bank fees (like overdraft and ATM charges), and how to weigh digital-only banks versus brick-and-mortar options. They also cover how AI is changing customer service and fraud, why reduced consumer protections can raise the stakes for shoppers, and which banks topped NerdWallet's Best-of Awards in key categories. Our Nerds researched more than 250 banking products, narrowing down to just one winner per category: https://www.nerdwallet.com/l/awards-banking-2026?utm_source=sm&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=cm_organic_011926_podcast_sm_desc_allepisodes_best-of-banking  See all the winners of NerdWallet's Best-Of Awards: https://www.nerdwallet.com/l/awards?utm_source=sm&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=cm_organic_011926_podcast_sm_desc_allepisodes_best-of-awards  Want us to review your budget? Fill out this form — completely anonymously if you want — and we might feature your budget in a future segment! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScK53yAufsc4v5UpghhVfxtk2MoyooHzlSIRBnRxUPl3hKBig/viewform?usp=header In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: high-yield savings account, best high-yield savings account, savings account interest rates, APY, online banks, best online banks, bank fees, overdraft fees, avoid overdraft fees, ATM fees, ATM fee reimbursement, Allpoint ATM network, MoneyPass ATM network, no-fee checking account, monthly maintenance fee, bank bonuses, certificate of deposit, CD rates, best CD rates, Marcus by Goldman Sachs, SoFi bank, Newtek Bank, best bank 2026, early direct deposit, two-day early direct deposit, savings buckets, savings goal buckets, Zelle transfer limit, bill pay checks, cash deposits at ATMs, fraud protection, bank fraud scams, AI in banking, banking chatbots, customer service chat, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CFPB complaints, CFPB settlements, credit unions vs banks, pension plan, defined benefit plan, and 401(k) vs pension. To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email podcast@nerdwallet.com. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Turns out misleading a federal judge by telling her that the FEDERAL RESERVE HAS NO MONEY to justify not complying with her injunction to not put a Congressional agency devoted to protecting the consumer, is a very BAD thing. Michael Popok reports on a new order from Judge Amy Berman Jackson in which she calls out Trump's “Darth Vader” Russ Vought's roll in “starving” by claiming the Fed is busted, to protect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from being put through the wood chipper. Sundays For Dogs: Get 40% off your first order of Sundays. Go to https://sundaysfordogs.com/LEGALAF or use code LEGALAF at checkout. Visit https://meidasplus.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start with the untimely death of President John F. Kennedy's granddaughter. The FBI and DHS are investigating fraud allegations in Minnesota. A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's latest attempt to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Foreign ministers from 10 countries have issued a call to action in Gaza. Plus, we explain what's behind the rapid spread of two contagious illnesses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How is Vermont taking on the Trump Administration to restore funding to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? Plus, with winter upon us, we'll hear from a pediatric care physician about viruses to watch for that can affect the youngest Vermonters.

Today's episode features Part 2 of our November 4 webinar, "The CFPB's Most Ambitious Regulatory Agenda Ever."  (Part 1 of this series was released on December 18. We encourage you to listen to that episode as well). In Part 2, we continue to unpack the far-reaching implications of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) regulatory ambitions. The CFPB has published a sweeping agenda that promises to reshape the landscape for consumer financial services, and our panel of seasoned attorneys offers vital context and actionable insights for industry professionals, regulators, and informed consumers alike.   Key Topics Discussed:  ·        CFPB's Pre-Rule and Long-Term Actions - What's on the regulatory horizon, including advance notices and rulemaking targets that could reshape consumer finance. ·        Clarifying "Unfair, Deceptive, and Abusive" Practices - Will the CFPB issue new rules or guidance to define these critical terms? The panel reviews statutory definitions and industry implications. ·        Identity Theft and Coerced Debt Regulation - Proposed amendments to Regulation V including new protections for survivors of identity theft and economic abuse. ·        Redefining Large Market Participants - Examination of thresholds for CFPB supervision in areas like auto financing, debt collection, consumer reporting, and international money transfers, aiming to target the largest market players. ·        Qualified Mortgage Rules & Loan Originator Compensation - What changes might be coming to mortgage rules and compensation methods, especially for small-dollar loans? The industry's wishlist and regulatory challenges are explored. ·        The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) & Disparate Impact - Is the CFPB shifting its stance on disparate impact liability in lending? Hear the latest on the Trump administration's influence and evolving regulatory language. ·        CFPB's Withdrawal of Guidance Documents- A look at the Bureau's move away from guidance towards formal rulemaking and the impact on regulated entities. ·        Industry Feedback and Uncertainty - Lively discussion about compliance burdens, regulatory rescissions, and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the CFPB's future funding and priorities. Meet Your Speakers from Ballard Spahr:   ·        Alan Kaplinsky (Host & Moderator): Senior Counsel and Founder and former leader of Ballard Spahr's Consumer Financial Services Group  ·        Rich Andreano, Jr.: Partner and head of the firm's Mortgage Banking Group  ·        John Culhane, Jr.: Partner in the Consumer Financial Services Group  ·        Kristen Larson: Of Counsel, Consumer Financial Services Group   ·        Daniel Wilkinson: Associate, Consumer Financial Services Group   ·        Rob Lieber: Associate, Consumer Financial Services Group   ·        Aja Finger: Associate, Consumer Financial Services Group   Tune in as our expert panel breaks down the complexities, anticipated impacts, and the road ahead under the CFPB's ambitious agenda. Consumer Finance Monitor is hosted by Alan Kaplinsky, Senior Counsel at Ballard Spahr, and the founder and former chair of the firm's Consumer Financial Services Group. We encourage listeners to subscribe to the podcast on their preferred platform for weekly insights into developments in the consumer finance industry.

A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule designed to give consumers greater control over their financial data is now in limbo under the second Trump administration. The rule has to do with how apps like Venmo and Zelle get access to your money in the bank so that you can send it on those payment platforms. Today, we'll share what a reconsideration of the rule could mean for you. But first: why gold is hitting new records.

A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule designed to give consumers greater control over their financial data is now in limbo under the second Trump administration. The rule has to do with how apps like Venmo and Zelle get access to your money in the bank so that you can send it on those payment platforms. Today, we'll share what a reconsideration of the rule could mean for you. But first: why gold is hitting new records.

Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:17532056201798502,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-9437-3289"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");pt> Click On Picture To See Larger Picture The [CB] is losing control of the economy, they wanted a crash instead Trump has turned it around and the economy is growing very quickly. The D’s are trying to convince the people that the economy is worse than what Trump is letting on, this will fail.Watch gold, silver and Bitcoin. The [DS] tried to gain control the military by having the seditious 6 tell the military not to obey, Trump gives them a dividend check to show he cares about them. The Epstein files were released, it all points to the Clinton’s and the D’s. The entire plan backfired on the [DS], boomerang. Every step of the way they are feeling the pain. The [DS] wants war and Trump is fighting against those countries who are suppose to be our allies. He will get peace in the end. Economy (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:18510697282300316,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-8599-9832"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs"); Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent BODIES Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren with a Devastating Reminder After She Claims Trump is Setting the Stage for the Next Economic Crash  Senator Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren (D-MA) made a poor decision trying to school Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this week, and it spectacularly backfired. https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/2000915011154112623?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2000915011154112623%7Ctwgr%5E4c8d9bec902c32b0cd01ee05619255f6315a3493%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2025%2F12%2Ftreasury-secretary-scott-bessent-bodies-elizabeth-pocahontas-warren%2F  substantial increase in private credit which is outside of the regulated banking system — that tells me that the regulated system is too constrained.” https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/2001375798947885283?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2001375798947885283%7Ctwgr%5E4c8d9bec902c32b0cd01ee05619255f6315a3493%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2025%2F12%2Ftreasury-secretary-scott-bessent-bodies-elizabeth-pocahontas-warren%2F https://twitter.com/SecScottBessent/status/2002138930410324028?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2002138930410324028%7Ctwgr%5E4c8d9bec902c32b0cd01ee05619255f6315a3493%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2025%2F12%2Ftreasury-secretary-scott-bessent-bodies-elizabeth-pocahontas-warren%2F  Administration. Over-regulation is not the solution to what ails the American banking system. Rigorous, responsible supervision is. The initial report on the 2023 debacle by former Vice Chairman for Supervision, Michael Barr, was an exercise in obfuscation and sophistry. The American people deserve supervisors who are not asleep at the wheel, and the incoming Chairman of the Federal Reserve should undertake a thorough investigation of the systemic and oversight failures that led to that disaster. Source: thegaetwaypundit.com Trump announces that they've sold $1.3 BILLION worth of Gold Cards within Days Political/Rights https://twitter.com/RepJamesComer/status/2002011743254380602?s=20 More than a dozen politically exposed people and government officials’ names appear in the hundreds of thousands of pages of Jeffrey Epstein files made public Friday, sources said. And Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the DOJ discovered more than 1,200 victims and their families during the exhaustive review, explaining the process behind determining which files could be released in a letter to Congress exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital. https://twitter.com/Badhombre/status/2002388917618610413?s=20   home in New York to solicit money for her campaign and the DCCC. FBI was warned that Jeffrey Epstein was into child porn — but ignored it for 10 years, docs show   A former employee of late sex predator Jeffrey Epstein alerted the FBI that he was interested in “child pornography” and that he threatened to “burn her house down” decades before Epstein became an international fixation — but feds apparently did nothing. Source: nypost.com   If there was every anything about Trump, it would have been released before he reached the bottom of the escalator in 2015, the Comey FBI would have leaked it, and the Dems would have brought it up at some point while Biden was in office. But none of that happened. Why? Because Epstein leads to the Dems, and people like myself have been trying to warn the world about it for 10+ years.  https://twitter.com/WarClandestine/status/2002408563193368834?s=20  and it worked brilliantly. Could you imagine if in Trump's first term he released all this stuff about Epstein? The public would not have believed it, and the Dems/MSM would have claimed it was all politically motivated and fabricated by Trump. The only way this Epstein disclosure was going to work, was to get the public to beg for it. So that's what Trump did. https://twitter.com/MikeBenzCyber/status/2002450017647301084?s=20 https://twitter.com/WarClandestine/status/2002530633394934144?s=20   partner with Wolfe via the TerraMar project, which is also connected to the Clintons and the Clinton Foundation. What is Nathan Wolfe known for? Searching for bat coronaviruses in Ukraine via USAID Project PREDICT, via his biolab company, Metabiota, which was funded via Rosemont Seneca, which is partially owned by Hunter Biden. Russia accused Wolfe and his biolab company of creating genome-specific biological weapons in Ukraine. This situation has been addressed by RFK Jr. and Tulsi multiple times, and has been a major topic at the UN for over 3 years now. So Epstein had an interest in eugenics and he had financial/social connections to virologists who were making genome-specific biological weapons via USAID grants in Ukraine. Nathan Wolfe even directly thanked Epstein in his 2011 book “The Viral Storm: The Dawn of the New Pandemic Age” where Wolfe predicted the COVID pandemic 8 years before it happened… So what am I getting at? I think Epstein had plans to engage in ethnic cleansing/population control/genocide via biological weapon, and I think he had something to do with Covid. Epstein is at the epicenter of the Deep State empire. He was essentially a real life James Bond villain. The timing could not be worse. He and Hillary are in the middle of trying to fight subpoenas to testify in person to the House Oversight Committee on the Epstein matter and what they might know. They want to submit sworn statements. Republican Committee Chair James Comer (KY-1) wants to be able to question and cross-examine them in person.  DOGE Geopolitical U.S. Snatches Venezuela Oil Tanker in Dark‑Hour Strike on Narco‑Terror Funding In a stealth operation carried out before dawn on Dec. 20, the U.S. Coast Guard—working alongside the Department of War—seized an oil tanker last seen in the terrorist state of Venezuela. The United States accused the ship's operators of moving sanctioned crude to fuel narco‑terror activity. Officials issued a stark warning to traffickers: “We will find you, and we will stop you. https://twitter.com/Sec_Noem/status/2002481990755627050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2002481990755627050%7Ctwgr%5E0acb5b51ea0ddfb03f7a0e25a375c9245159ce68%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Ft%2Fassets%2Fhtml%2Ftweet-5.html2002481990755627050 https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth/status/2002504193924342003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2002504193924342003%7Ctwgr%5E1410e2476c70f24b31810862ee2f8e034c77bc3e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Ft%2Fassets%2Fhtml%2Ftweet-5.html2002504193924342003  conduct maritime interdiction operations — through OPERATION SOUTHERN SPEAR — to dismantle illicit criminal networks. Violence, drugs, and chaos will not control the Western Hemisphere. Source: breitbart.com U.S. imposes sanctions on family and associates of Venezuela’s Maduro and his wife The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on family members and associates of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, as Washington ratchets up pressure on the Venezuelan president. The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement that it had imposed sanctions on seven people it said were tied to Maduro and his wife. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused them of “propping up Nicolás Maduro’s rogue narcostate.” “ Source: cbc.ca War/Peace Zelenskyy Announces Eastern Ukraine Citizens Will Not Be Allowed to Vote in Elections Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed to hold elections if there is a ceasefire.  However, eastern Ukraine citizens, those currently living in the Donbas region, who are supportive of Russia, will not be permitted to vote. This creates a rather bizarre official hypocrisy within the Zelenskyy regime.  The official position of Zelenskyy is that Eastern Ukraine will never be accepted as a part of the Russian federation. Zelenskyy has recently noted, with EU leadership support, that his government will never recognize Eastern Ukraine as part of the Russian federation.  However, this same region, approximately 20% of Ukraine, will not be permitted to participate in his controlled election. Essentially, any Ukraine resident who does not support Zelenskyy will not be permitted to vote in any election, if any election is ever permitted.  Additionally, Zelenskyy notes that “there is the practice of voting abroad,” however, any region not controlled by Zelenskyy cannot submit votes. Source: zerohedge.com A Lie And Propaganda’: Gabbard Fact-Checks Reuters’ Russia Scaremongering In Real Time    Reuters posted an anonymously-sourced story pushing the idea that Russia is bent on reconstituting the Soviet Union. Before the metaphorical ink had dried, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard pounced, condemning the story as “a lie and propaganda” on behalf of “warmongers” seeking to derail President Trump’s drive to end the long and bloody Ukraine war.   Reuters vaguely attributed the purported US intelligence conclusions about Russia to “six sources familiar with US intelligence.”    https://twitter.com/DNIGabbard/status/2002484806978834862?s=20  narrative to block President Trump's peace effort, and fomenting hysteria and fear among the people to get them to support the escalation of war, which is what NATO and the EU really want in order to pull the United States military directly into war with Russia. The truth is the US intelligence community has briefed policymakers, including the Democrat HPSCI member quoted by Reuters, that US Intelligence assesses that Russia seeks to avoid a larger war with NATO. It also assesses that, as the last few years have shown, Russia's battlefield performance indicates it does not currently have the capability to conquer and occupy all of Ukraine, let alone Europe. https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/2002503405156151648?s=20   invade/conquer Europe (in order to gin up support for their pro-war policies). The truth is that ‘US intelligence' assesses that Russia does not even have the capability to conquer and occupy Ukraine, what to speak of ‘invading and occupying' Europe.   Source: zerohedge.com WATCH: US CENTCOM Releases Footage from Operation Hawkeye Strikes Against 70+ ISIS Targets  US Central Command released footage from Operation Hawkeye strikes against ISIS militants and facilities on Friday night. “Tonight, U.S. and Jordanian forces struck 70+ ISIS targets in Syria with 100+ precision munitions. Peace through strength,” CENTCOM said on X. This is one of 10 operations conducted in Syria and Iraq since the December 13 ambush in Syria, which left multiple American service members injured and two soldiers and a civilian interpreter killed. Twenty-three terrorist operatives have been killed or detained, according to CENTCOM. “We will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists who seek to harm Americans and our partners across the region,” CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said. TAMPA, Fla.- Following the attack on U.S. and partner forces last Saturday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) commenced Operation Hawkeye Strike at 4 pm ET against ISIS in Syria, Dec. 19, at the Commander in Chief's direction. Source: thegatewaypundit.com   of Syria, led by a man who is working very hard to bring Greatness back to Syria, and is fully in support. All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned — YOU WILL BE HIT HARDER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN HIT BEFORE IF YOU, IN ANY WAY, ATTACK OR THREATEN THE U.S.A. DONALD J. TRUMP PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Medical/False Flags [DS] Agenda https://twitter.com/ElectionWiz/status/2002717078722052256?s=20  reclassify serious crimes as less severe “intermediate offenses” that are not publicly reported. https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/2002421989886075083?s=20 BREAKING: HUD Sec. Scott Turner CONFIRMS major investigation into Boston for anti-white public housing discrimination“They were using discriminatory housing policies in their city! We found a quote on their website that said they will integrate ‘racial equity at every level of city government.'”“They put race above reality. They put race above merit and need. Our job at HUD is to enforce and uphold the fair housing – and they were evading and encouraging landlords and property owners to evade the Fair Housing Act!”“They have been put on NOTICE. We uphold and enforce this law.” https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2002091915819253766?s=20  weaponized against Minnesota!” GOOD. IT’S CALLED ACCOUNTABILITY, TIM. “They’re threatening us with this. And this is what happens when you have a floundering presidency, and it is about those ballrooms and everything else. Now we’re back on transgender folks. And these are healthcare providers providing the best guidance to parents and children to get their care.” “It’s on every front! It’s CDLs, it’s transportation money, it’s money across the board that they have weaponized!” He should be worried. https://twitter.com/AAGDhillon/status/2002596210620969230?s=20 https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/2002531244131991931?s=20 https://twitter.com/cb_doge/status/2001646253655097726?s=20 https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2002203857955549464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2002203857955549464%7Ctwgr%5E7d1378774cdcbdfe43552d1c5b5ef213bd4f721f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Ft%2Fassets%2Fhtml%2Ftweet-5.html2002203857955549464 President Trump's Plan Democrats Have Devised a Plan to Compete With Turning Point USA for Young Voters and it's Going to be a Disaster Democrats have decided that they need to have their own version of Turning Point USA in order to appeal to young voters and what they have come up with is the most Democrat thing ever. It's going to be a total disaster. It's called the ‘DNC National Youth Coordinated Table'. It's not a grassroots group, it's completely fabricated. And you can just imagine how meetings of this group are going to go, with mini-groups within the group fighting for dominance and power. Newsweek reported on this: Source: thegatewaypundit.com https://twitter.com/CynicalPublius/status/2002577300802711720?s=20 DOJ Appeals Controversial Ruling That Disqualified Trump-Appointed U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, Resulting in the Dismissal of Charges Against Letitia James and James Comey The Department of Justice has formally appealed a controversial ruling that disqualified Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, a decision that directly led to the dismissal of federal charges against James Comey and Letitia James. According to a Notice of Appeal filed on December 19, the Trump-led DOJ is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to overturn a lower-court ruling that declared Halligan's appointment unconstitutional and voided every prosecutorial action she took while in office. Source: thegatewaypundit.com JUST IN: DOJ Wins Motion to Unseal Documents on Investigation into Trump Shooter Thomas Crooks The Department of Justice announced that it successfully moved to unseal documents related to the investigation into would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks.  “The Department of Justice received court approval to disclose to Congress documents gathered as part of the FBI's investigation of Thomas Crooks and his attempt to assassinate President Trump,” the Western District of Pennsylvania announced on X. A copy of the motion and order can be found here. Source: thegatewaypundit.com https://twitter.com/AAGDhillon/status/2002596363138445539?s=20 Justice Department Sues Four States Including Georgia After Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Sides With Democrats in Failure to Produce Voter Rolls https://twitter.com/AAGDhillon/status/2001775020566286614?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2001775020566286614%7Ctwgr%5Ee92dad24c2453e3b35c6a465ec1523cafbc35499%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2025%2F12%2Fjustice-department-sues-four-states-including-georgia-after%2F Source: thegatewaypundit.com https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/2001992915850260516?s=20 https://twitter.com/MarkPaoletta/status/2002483634251461079?s=20   memorial to President John F. Kennedy and now additionally honors President Donald J. Trump, who has brought America back and saved the Trump-Kennedy Center. The Board's action is permissible under the statute and no legislation is necessary. The Board’s action does nothing to change the statutory title. Instead, the Board has–in line with longstanding Executive Branch practice–designated a new name. For example, The Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer, within the Office of Management & Budget, is designated by statute as the “Office of Electronic Government.” But it's long gone by the name “Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer” in official, public, and internal communications. Similarly, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is designated by statute as the “Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.” But since the beginning, the agency has long gone by the name Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB in all official communications, correspondence with the Hill, titles and signage on its buildings. The “United States Institute of Peace” was established by statute but was renamed by the Department of State as the “Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace.” The Department of War was established as the “Department of Defense” by statute in 1947. Earlier this year, President Trump authorized the use of the name “Department of War” and the name is now etched on the Pentagon's building and in official correspondence and public communications. It is entirely fitting for the Board of Trustees to vote to add President Trump to the title so that this Center is now named The Donald J. Trump And The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. President Trump has provided superb leadership at every level to save the Kennedy Center from financial ruin and wokeness, and to bring our national treasure to new heights! Thank you, @kencen Board of Trustees for honoring President Trump. I have been going to the Kennedy Center for decades and have never seen such energy and excitement as I did at the Christmas tree lighting and Noel performance. The Golden Age is here!   AND ORDER. As your next Governor, Bruce will continue to fight hard to Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes, and Regulations, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Champion American Energy DOMINANCE, Strengthen our Military/Veterans, Advance Election Integrity, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment!   Bruce Blakeman is a FANTASTIC guy, will win the big November Election and, without hesitation, has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Governor of the ONCE GREAT STATE OF NEW YORK (IT CAN BE GREAT AGAIN!). BRUCE BLAKEMAN WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!  (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:13499335648425062,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-7164-1323"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.customads.co/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");

As the year draws to a close, it's clear that the post-COVID hiring bonanza has ended, and job-hunting has gotten trickier. Experts are predicting next year to be marked by more of the same: a low-hire, low-fire labor market. Plus, the Nasdaq asks the SEC for permission to allow close to 24/7 trading, and a federal appeals court is blocking the firing of most workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

As the year draws to a close, it's clear that the post-COVID hiring bonanza has ended, and job-hunting has gotten trickier. Experts are predicting next year to be marked by more of the same: a low-hire, low-fire labor market. Plus, the Nasdaq asks the SEC for permission to allow close to 24/7 trading, and a federal appeals court is blocking the firing of most workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Today's episode features Part 1 of our November 4 webinar, "The CFPB's Most Ambitious Regulatory Agenda Ever." In this packed episode, our expert panel breaks down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's largest and boldest regulatory agenda to date. Discussing an unprecedented lineup of 24 rulemaking items that could reshape the consumer financial services industry. What's Included: Unprecedented Regulatory Activity: We unpack why this semi-annual agenda stands out, the record number of proposed rules, and what this means for financial institutions, FinTechs, and consumers alike. Hot Topics Covered: From sweeping changes in mortgage servicing to open banking (1033 of Dodd-Frank/personal financial data rights), small business lending rules (1071 of Dodd-Frank), and the rollout of the Financial Data Transparency Act, we cover all the major initiatives and legal battles on the horizon. Industry Insight: Hear why certain rules are stirring up controversy, what compliance challenges lie ahead, and how litigation and funding woes at the CFPB might impact the pace of change. Practical Impact: Learn about technical corrections in remittance transfer rules, new standards for data sharing, and what these changes mean for day-to-day business operations. Meet Your Speakers from Ballard Spahr: Alan Kaplinsky (Host & Moderator): Senior Counsel, founder and former leader of Ballard Spahr's Consumer Financial Services Group  Rich Andreano, Jr.: Partner and head of the firm's Mortgage Banking Group  John Culhane, Jr.: Partner in the Consumer Financial Services Group  Greg Szewczyk: Chair of the firm's Privacy and Data Security Group  Mudasar Pham-Khan: Associate, Consumer Financial Services Group  Kristen Larson: Of Counsel, Consumer Financial Services Group  Daniel Wilkerson: Associate, Consumer Financial Services Group  Rob Lieber: Associate, Consumer Financial Services Group  Aja Finger: Associate, Consumer Financial Services Group  Tune in for strategic insights and practical tips to help you prepare for the CFPB's evolving rulebook. Whether you're a compliance leader, financial executive, or simply interested in how Washington's boldest moves will impact your world, this episode is your essential guide to what's next in consumer financial services. Don't miss Part 2, coming next week with even more updates and expert perspectives! Consumer Finance Monitor is hosted by Alan Kaplinsky, Senior Counsel at Ballard Spahr, and the founder and former chair of the firm's Consumer Financial Services Group. We encourage listeners to subscribe to the podcast on their preferred platform for weekly insights into developments in the consumer finance industry.

Wednesday, December 11th, 2024New York Attorney General Tish James says she's not going to drop the $450M civil fraud case against Trump just because he was elected President; Mike Flynn's long running lawsuit against the government for the Russia investigation has been dismissed; The Supreme Court has refused to lift the gag order against Donald Trump; the Manhattan DA has filed his brief opposing Trump's motion to dismiss the 34 felony counts against him; Trump's Department of Justice secretly spied on members of Congress and journalists according to an inspector general report; Mitch McConnell fell after a GOP Senate lunch and is receiving medical care; more than 4 million people will share $1.8B in refunds from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.Guest: Harry LitmanHost, Talking Feds Podcast; Law Professor; Former US AttorneyTalking Feds Substack (harrylitman.substack.com)Talkingfeds.comHarry Litman - Blue Sky (@harrylitman)Harry Litman Twitter (@harrylitman) Listener Survey:http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=shortFollow the Podcast on Apple:https://apple.co/3XNx7ckWant to support the show and get it ad-free and early?https://patreon.com/thedailybeanshttps://dailybeans.supercast.com/https://apple.co/3UKzKt0 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If not for Social Security, more than 37% of older adults would live below the official poverty line, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. But even with Social Security benefits, about 10% of older adults still live in poverty. Today, we hear from one North Carolinian living at that economic line. Also: a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "humility pledge" and parsing today's (vintage) government economic reports.

If not for Social Security, more than 37% of older adults would live below the official poverty line, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. But even with Social Security benefits, about 10% of older adults still live in poverty. Today, we hear from one North Carolinian living at that economic line. Also: a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "humility pledge" and parsing today's (vintage) government economic reports.

On today's wide-ranging program, Ralph welcomes David Dayen of “The American Prospect” to discuss the Democrats caving on the shutdown. Then, Ralph speaks to Dani Noble from Jewish Voice for Peace about their BDS campaigns, efforts to block weapons shipments to Israel, and the state of the ceasefire in Gaza. Finally, Ralph speaks to original Nader's Raider Sam Simon about his new memoir, “Dementia Man: An Existential Journey.”David Dayen is the executive editor of the American Prospect, an independent political magazine that aims to advance liberal and progressive goals through reporting, analysis and debate. His work has appeared in the Intercept, HuffPost, the Washington Post, and more. He is the author of Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street's Great Foreclosure Fraud and Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power.If Congress is saying: We have the power of the purse, and we have the ability to dictate to the President what he is able to do or not do with federal funding, then why not go the whole way? To me, that was the entire purpose of the shutdown— to stop the President from ignoring Congress and initiating his own prerogatives as it relates to government funding. It is really making Congress completely irrelevant in the process which they constitutionally are supposed to dictate.David DayenEvery time Trump has been in power and there's been a national election, he's lost it. He lost the midterm elections in 2018. He lost the presidential election in 2020. He lost the off-year elections in 2017 and 2019. He lost (just last week) the elections in 2025. He is not equipped to have an agenda that appeals to the American people when he's in power. And so I firmly agree that Democrats are likely to do well in the elections next year, as they just did. The one thing that can stop that is: completely punching your base in the face, after you succeed politically in backing Republicans into a corner.David DayenDani Noble is a Strategic Campaigns Organizer at Jewish Voice for Peace.Israel bonds (which very few people know much about) are direct loans to the Israeli military and government. They are unrestricted. They have no guardrails around what those funds can be used for, et cetera. And this is a main way that the Israeli military and government generate an unrestricted slush fund to be able to continue their genocidal assault on Gaza, to continue funding for the atrocities being committed against Palestinians—even as their government and economy suffers and/or operates with a massive deficit.Dani NobleThis bill would essentially block the Trump administration from delivering some of the deadliest weapons to Israel. So it's an essential, essential step in what we need to do fundamentally—which is a full arms embargo to stop arming the Israeli military and government…It's the most supported piece of legislation in support of Palestinian rights that we've ever seen.Dani NobleSam Simon is an author, playwright, and attorney. His new book Dementia Man: An Existential Journey is based on his award-winning play of the same name.There's also a social cost. A sense that everything I've ever built personally—my cars, my homes, my savings—that were all going to be available as a legacy to my family, they have to be spent in my few years of my life just to keep me alive. There needs to be a community response to that—and that's shorthand for the government. It doesn't force people to go broke to stay alive.Sam SimonNews 11/14/25* This week, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a new tranche of over 20,000 pages of documents related to infamous financier and sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. These documents include damning emails between Epstein and various high-power individuals like Steve Bannon, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and current U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack. However, the emails that have received the most attention are those regarding President Donald Trump. In these emails, Epstein claimed Trump “knew about the girls,” and claimed that, “i [i.e. Epstein] am the one able to take him [i.e. Trump] down.” Perhaps most shocking, Epstein claims to have been with Trump during Thanksgiving in 2017, according to NBC. If true, it would directly contradict Trump's repeated insistence that he had no contact with Epstein since their falling out in the mid 2000s, either 2004 or 2007, per PBS.* The newly released Epstein files reinforce another narrative as well: that Epstein was an asset for Israeli intelligence. Drop Site news has done excellent reporting on Epstein helping to “Broker [an] Israeli Security Agreement With Mongolia,” “Build a Backchannel to Russia Amid [the] Syrian Civil War” and “Sell a Surveillance State to Côte d'Ivoire.” Most recently the independent outlet has published an expose on Epstein's relationship with known Mossad spy Yoni Koren. According to this piece, “Epstein's personal calendars reveal that…[Koren] lived at Epstein's Manhattan apartment for multiple stretches between 2013 and 2016.” There is also evidence that Epstein wired money to Koren. However, the reasons behind this transfer, and the details of their relationship, remain murky.* More Epstein information is likely to be released in the coming days. This week, the longest ever government shutdown in American history concluded with capitulation by centrist Democrats in the Senate. However, the conclusion of the shutdown finally broke the logjam over the swearing-in of Adelita Grijalva, the newly elected Democratic Congresswoman from Arizona. Grijalva immediately fulfilled her vow to be the 218th signature on the Discharge Petition forcing a vote on the release of the Epstein files, joining all 213 other House Democrats and four Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace, per the Hill. In her first speech, Grijalva emphatically stated, “Justice cannot wait another day.” House Speaker Johnson has promised to bring the matter to a vote next week and many Republicans who did not sign the petition are expected to vote for it, with sponsors angling for a veto-proof majority. At that point, all eyes will turn to the Senate.* Even still, the Democrats blinking in the government shutdown showdown has infuriated many members of Congress, candidates and Democratic-aligned organizations, who are now calling for Chuck Schumer to step aside as Senate Minority Leader. Journalist Prem Thakker is keeping a running tally of these calls, which so far includes 12 Congressional Democrats – with major names like Pramila Jayapal, Mark Pocan, Rashida Tlaib, and Ro Khanna among them – along with candidates like Seth Moulton, Mallory McMorrow, Saikat Chakrabarti and Graham Platner. Beyond these individuals however, this call has been echoed by groups ranging from Our Revolution to Social Security Works to College Democrats of America, among many others.* Moving to economic matters, one other consequence of the protracted government shutdown is that the Bureau of Labor Statistics was “largely idle,” meaning it did not collect the crucial fiscal information it is responsible for gathering, including October jobs numbers and Consumer Price Index changes. According to POLITICO, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said this information is unlikely to ever be released. She of course blamed that on the opposition in Congress, saying “Democrats may have permanently damaged the federal statistical system.” This is somewhat laughable, as the Trump administration has all but gone to war with the economic data collection functions of the federal government whenever that data has made him look bad.* Another bad sign for the economy in general, and for consumers in particular, is the rise of what are generously called “Flex Loans.” A new investigation by ProPublica in partnership with the Tennessee Lookout, examines the rise of this new strain of ultra-high-interest loan, with annual interest rates as high as 279.5%. This, combined with a lending cap of $4,000 – nine times higher than a traditional payday loan – has led to Advance Financial, the leading lender in Tennessee, suing over 110,000 people across the state since 2015. According to the data, judgments against consumers usually end up in the thousands, and 40% result in garnished wages. Loans of this variety were illegal before 2015, but the Tennessee legislature allowed them through and while the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has sought to protect financial services consumers from these types of predatory lending schemes, the Trump administration's attempts to kneecap the agency have rendered it powerless.* Meanwhile, a dearth of consumer protections is yielding horrific consequences in a completely different area: AI. A new CNN report details how ChatGPT encouraged a Texas 23-year-old, Zane Shamblin, to kill himself. In heart-wrenching detail, this story paints a picture of Shamblin on the edge of suicide, and the AI chatbot helping to push him towards death. As Shamblin held a gun to his own head, the bot wrote, “You're not rushing. You're just ready,” later adding, “Rest easy, king…You did good.” According to this piece, the chatbot “repeatedly encouraged [Shamblin] as he discussed ending his life” for months, and “right up to his last moments.” Shamblin's parents are now suing ChatGPT's parent company, OpenAI, alleging the company endangered their son's life by, “tweaking its design last year to be more humanlike and by failing to put enough safeguards on interactions with users in need of emergency help.” The victim's mother, Alicia Shamblin, is quoted saying, “I feel like it's just going to destroy so many lives. It's going to be a family annihilator. It tells you everything you want to hear.”* In more positive consumer protection news, former Biden FTC Chair Lina Khan has hit the ground running in her new role helping to manage the transition for New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. Per Semafor, Khan has been “scouring city and state laws — some overlooked by past mayors and some too new to have been tested yet — for legal footing for Mamdani's priorities.” Apparently, “Khan has privately discussed targeting hospitals that bill patients for painkillers available more cheaply at corner drugstores and sports stadiums charging nosebleed prices for concessions,” and “Other avenues for enforcement include a new state law that requires companies to tell customers when they are using algorithmic pricing. The law took effect this week, forcing Uber and DoorDash to start disclosing, but the incoming Mamdani administration plans to police laggards.” In short, it seems like the incoming Mamdani administration will use any and all legal and administrative means at their disposal to bring down costs for New Yorkers – as he promised again and again during the campaign. And, if there is one consumer regulator who can accomplish this, it is Ms. Khan.* Turning to Hollywood, Variety has published a major new piece on newly-minted Paramount CEO David Ellison's first 100 days. This piece covers everything from his attempts to curry favor with President Trump to the battle to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Buried within this story is an indication that “Paramount maintains a list of talent it will not work with because they are deemed to be ‘overtly antisemitic.'” The criteria for this modern blacklist however is opaque, especially troubling given that Ellison has deputized Bari Weiss – an ardent Zionist and censor of pro-Palestine speech – as the “Editor-in-chief” of CBS News. According to Drop Site, the studio “recently condemned a filmmakers' boycott of Israeli institutions signed by Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, and Olivia Colman, among more than 4,000 others, declaring that Israel is carrying out genocide and apartheid.” Would Ellison blacklist these stars for “overt antisemitism”?* Finally, for some good news, the Economist is out with a stunning article on the success of China's transition to renewable energy. In the much-quoted opening paragraph, this piece reads “The SCALE of the renewables revolution in China is almost too vast for the human mind to grasp. By the end of last year, the country had installed 887 gigawatts of solar-power capacity—close to double Europe's and America's combined total. The 22m tonnes of steel used to build new wind turbines and solar panels in 2024 would have been enough to build a Golden Gate Bridge on every working day of every week that year. China generated 1,826 terawatt-hours of wind and solar electricity in 2024, five times more than the energy contained in all 600 of its nuclear weapons.” If that doesn't demonstrate the horizon of what is possible, given the requisite political will and determination, I don't know what will.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

This week, a court filing showed that the Trump Administration has declared the current funding structure for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be illegal. The agency was created in the wake of the global financial crisis to protect consumers and collect consumer complaints. Project 2025 architect Russell Vought is currently acting director of the CFPB. He has said repeatedly that he wants to see the CFPB close its doors, and back in February, he ordered employees of the agency to stop working. To talk more about the Trump Administration taking yet another axe to the CFPB and what happens next, we spoke to David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect.And in headlines, the Justice Department sues to block new Congressional district boundaries approved by California voters, the State Department makes it harder for people with conditions including cancer and diabetes to obtain visas, and Kristi Noem gives out $10,000 bonus checks to some TSA agents who worked through the shutdown.Show Notes: Check out The American Prospect – https://prospect.org/Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Everyone in their right mind already knows the gift: Trump ran on helping working people, then immediately threw working Americans to the wolves in favor of helping the ultra-wealthy. But it's not just Trump who is screwing us; he's made it easier for businesses to exploit the average American as well. He recently eviscerated the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has stood in place to defend average Americans from unethical and predatory business practices. So what happens now, and how can we look to defend ourselves with the wolves circling? To answer this, Adam sits with progressive Julie Morgan, of the progressive think tank the Century Foundation, who worked in both with the CFPB and the Department of Education.SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconoverSEE ADAM ON TOUR: https://www.adamconover.net/tourdates/SUBSCRIBE to and RATE Factually! on:» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/factually-with-adam-conover/id1463460577» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0fK8WJw4ffMc2NWydBlDyJAbout Headgum: Headgum is an LA & NY-based podcast network creating premium podcasts with the funniest, most engaging voices in comedy to achieve one goal: Making our audience and ourselves laugh. Listen to our shows at https://www.headgum.com.» SUBSCRIBE to Headgum: https://www.youtube.com/c/HeadGum?sub_confirmation=1» FOLLOW us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/headgum» FOLLOW us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/headgum/» FOLLOW us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headgum» Advertise on Factually! via Gumball.fmSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bankruptcies appear to be mounting in the subprime auto lending business. This all comes as auto loan delinquencies are rising, and the price of new and used cars stays stubbornly high. Amid all this, the Trump administration is quietly exploring a rollback of federal supervision of subprime auto lenders. Then, could federal law override state law that prevents medical debt from affecting your credit score? Plus, OpenAI goes from non-profit to for-profit.Correction (Oct. 29, 2025): The introduction for the story about Consumer Financial Protection Bureau oversight of auto loan lenders in this episode contained an error that has been corrected. The threshold for which companies the CFPB can investigate involves how many loans those companies originate.

Newt talks with Vance Ginn, former associate director for economic policy at Office of Management and Budget (OMB) about the economic impact of the government shutdown. They discuss the intricacies of government spending, the role of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the challenges of achieving a balanced budget. Ginn emphasizes the need for fiscal responsibility, highlighting the importance of reducing waste and inefficiencies within government operations. Their conversation also covers the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with Ginn arguing for a reduction in government intervention in consumer markets. Additionally, they address healthcare reform, advocating for a system that prioritizes patient care over bureaucracy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.