As we reported earlier in the week, the CFPB and the Judge Advocate Generals of the United States Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard earlier this week announced that they would work together to help better protect servicemembers and their families from unlawful acts and practices.

Quote from Hollister/Holly Petraeus, assistant director for the Office of Servicemember Affairs at the CFPB:

“I have worked for years trying to protect military families from predatory practices and to help raise awareness of the unique financial challenges they face – and I know the Judge Advocate Generals have been on the front lines in each of those fights … Servicemembers and their families sacrifice a great deal for our country and they deserve advocates who will use every available resource to protect them from financial threats. Through this partnership and our other efforts, we will work to make sure that the days of military families being easy targets for predatory practices and unscrupulous lenders are a thing of the past.”

What are the goals of the joint venture?

• Protecting servicemembers and their families from unlawful acts or practices by providers of consumer financial products or services, including through enforcement actions where necessary;
• Creating mechanisms that enable the Offices of the Judge Advocate Generals to provide input on the Bureau’s efforts to improve the marketplace for servicemembers, their families, and law-abiding businesses;
• Finding ways to work together as efficiently and effectively as possible to address concerns raised by servicemembers and their families about consumer financial products or services; and
• Working with other offices in the Department of Defense to support improved financial literacy training for servicemembers and their families.