3c hapter - Index of
3c hapter - Index of
3c hapter - Index of
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70 Locavesting<br />
their homes to foreclosure, and neighborhoods fallen into blight.<br />
Rather than work with homeowners, as the government urged, big<br />
banks such as Bank <strong>of</strong> America and JPMorgan Chase contracted<br />
with so- called foreclosure mills to speed through the process—<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten illegally or without proper documentation (more or less<br />
the same way the loans were originated). A government oversight<br />
report warned that the sloppy handling could potentially call into<br />
question the validity <strong>of</strong> 33 million mortgage loans. 12<br />
Adding insult to injury, the biggest banks spent heavily throughout<br />
2009 and 2010 to fend <strong>of</strong>f or weaken regulations intended to<br />
reign in risky or abusive behavior. Despite those efforts, various<br />
reforms were passed, including the Credit Card Accountability,<br />
Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act <strong>of</strong> 2009, which requires<br />
more transparency and disclosure, including an opt- in requirement<br />
for overdraft protection, and the Dodd- Frank bill in July 2010,<br />
which created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to oversee<br />
mortgages, credit cards, and other fi nancial products.<br />
But don’t expect banking fees to come down as a result. In the<br />
famous words <strong>of</strong> JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon: “If you’re a restaurant<br />
and you can’t charge for the soda, you’re going to charge<br />
more for the burger.”<br />
Well, if you’re a customer and you are served a lousy burger,<br />
you don’t have to eat it.<br />
Credit Union<br />
Credit unions are nonpr<strong>of</strong>i t fi nancial institutions owned by and operated<br />
on behalf <strong>of</strong> their members, who typically share an affi liation,<br />
such as an employer or trade. Like other cooperative businesses (see<br />
C<strong>hapter</strong> 11), any excess revenue that does not go back into the business<br />
is distributed to members in the form <strong>of</strong> better rates and fewer<br />
fees—one reason they represent a good deal for consumers.<br />
Move Your Money<br />
That’s the idea behind the Move Your Money campaign, launched<br />
at the end <strong>of</strong> 2009 by the Huffi ngton Post, with a clever video