Mrs. Petraeus educates Kadena on CFPB

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Hailey Davis
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Service members and their families here recently learned about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its resources available to them from the bureau's assistant director.

Holly Petraeus, CFPB assistant director and head of the office of service member affairs, recently visited Kadena to inform service members about her agency and what they are doing to aid military personnel with their finances.

"I'm here (to inform) military personnel and families stationed here about my agency, what we do and the fact that we're here for them," Petraeus said. "Second, I'm here to hear what their financial concerns are so I can take that back to Washington (D.C.) and see if I can work on them."

Petraeus explained the bureau enforces approximately 18 federal consumer financial laws which allow them to supervise and examine banks, credit unions, loan lenders, and credit reporting agencies.

"We can look at their books and see if they are complying with the law and if they're not we can help them fix (the issue) if it's minor," she explained. "If it's major, we have an enforcement division that can actually file charges against them."

Although services provided by the CFPB apply to everyone, the Department of Defense has unique challenges, like a mobile lifestyle.

"(Service members) can't always stay in one place and they have a guaranteed paycheck which makes them an attractive target for scammers," Petraeus said. "When they walk into communities, they may not know what bad deals are out there and how to avoid getting into them."

Even though military personnel may come across difficult or hard-to-understand scenarios, Petraeus offered advice and different resources available to the community right on base.

"I want them to understand that they have a resource in us," she said. "Also, it's important for them to know that the Department of Defense has good resources for them like the Airman and family readiness center and some of the other providers for the other services."

She added service members shouldn't be afraid to speak with financial counselors because it's better to get help with financial problems when it's small than wait until it's a huge issue.

If someone thinks they've been a victim of bad practices from a company providing financial services or products, Petraeus asks that they head to www.consumerfinance.gov and file a complaint against the company or agency.

They can also contact them on Facebook at CFPB Military, or speak with financial counselors or their legal office.

"It's important because we've gotten money back for service members or have gotten them the answers they needed," she said. "Also, if they file a complaint it goes into our database. If we see we're getting a lot of complaints about a particular company, we can actually refer that to our enforcement division."

Petraeus ended on a positive note, thanking military members for their service.

"I want to say thanks to everybody serving over here and in mainland Japan. We wanted to come over to tell you that even though you're halfway around the world, we are thinking about you back in Washington (D.C.) and we do want to be a voice for you," Petraeus said.