This story came out yesterday covering Holly Petraeus’, who heads the Office of Servicemember Affairs for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, conference call this week with Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD). On the call Petraeus  discussed the importance of appointing a director to the CFPB, saying agency enforcement personnel “cannot start their work until we have a director in place. It’s like they are circling their airfield waiting for permission to land.”

As she discussed the need for a director, we were a bit flabbergasted by the headline and its ties to the story? Sensationalism, much? Perhaps.

Just a reminder for those who follow the Pundit, CFSA member companies do not market or provide two-week payday advance loans to the military. This policy is in accordance with federal law that imposed a 36 percent rate cap on loans of 91 days or fewer to military personnel, their spouses, and their dependents.

American Forces Press Service put a story out yesterday touting Military Line, an organization “protecting servicemembers and their families from financial pitfalls such as payday lenders,” the article says. The program’s mission, according to Brenda Linnington, director of the Better Business Bureau Military Line, is to increase military members’ financial literacy through information, education, and outreach — both online and on the ground.

“I’d like Military Line to serve as a bridge between the civilian and military communities,” said Linnington, an Army veteran and the wife of an active-duty Army officer. She took on the job in January after the former director, Holly Petraeus, left to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office of Servicemember Affairs.

Just as a reminder, in response to articles earlier in the year, CFSA put out the following statement: “We are surprised to learn that military financial counselors are reporting that some payday lenders may be making loans in violation of the terms and rates imposed by law. We are certain that no reputable payday lenders, especially among the 50 percent of the industry represented by this association, make illegal loans.”

CFSA member companies do not market or provide two-week payday advance loans to the military.

Holly Petraeus, director of the CFPB’s Office of Servicemember Affairs, spoke with AOL DailyFinance about her new role at the CFPB, and her financial advice for servicemembers and their families (conducted a few days before the Bureau officially opened for business).

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.

In case you missed Holly Petraeus, assistant director of Servicemember Affairs at CFPB, on Credit.com last Saturday, click here. Petraeus discussed the benefits and potential pitfalls of gaining access to credit for members of the military and their families.