 TITLE: CFPB Protects Servicemen from Financial Frauds, Benefit Scams CONTENT: CFPB Helps Servicemembers with Financial Issues\n-----------------------------------------------\n###### Written by: Kristy Welsh\n_Last Updated: August 30, 2017_\nEvery single one of us needs consumer protection relative to personal finance products and services. However, those serving in our military not only have unique consumer rights afforded to them, but are also particularly vulnerable to violations of these rights.\nThus, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's creation of the Office of Servicemember Affairs.\nAs stated on the CFPB website, the Office of Servicemember Affairs exists:\n*   \"To ensure that military personnel and their families have a voice at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Military life can have some extra challenges that can sometimes have powerful financial repercussions.\"\nHere's how the CFPB aims to help.\nResponds to Complaints About Financial Products and Services\n------------------------------------------------------------\nIf you believe your consumer rights are being violated, the CFPB wants to hear about it.\nThe CFPB accepts complaints on any product or service relative to the financial industry, including debt collection, student loans, payday loans, mortgages, credit cards, credit reporting, auto loans, money transfers, and banking issues.\nOf all the categories, complaints by servicemembers are most often relative to debt collection practices.\nThe CFPB is particularly concerned with debt collectors illegally:\n*   Contacting a servicemember's military chain of command.\n*   Threatening punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (which requires servicemembers maintain good finances).\n*   Threatening to have a servicemember reduced in rank.\n*   Threatening to have a servicemember's security clearance revoked.\nThe CFPB is also concerned about servicemember violations of consumer rights relative to:\n*   Student loans, as servicers frequently provide incorrect information to servicemembers, such as that protections only apply when they are deployed (not true).\n*   Payday loans, as the CFPB believes lenders routinely skirt the Military Lending Act by lending just outside its narrow parameters (which prohibits interest rates above 36 percent).\n*   Mortgages, as servicers routinely fail to provide accurate and timely information about available assistance options when a military family gets Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders.\nOnce the CFPB receives it, your complaint and any supporting documentation is forwarded on to the company for their review. The company has 15 days to respond to the CFPB and to you.\nDuring this 15-day period, you can expect to receive from the CFPB email updates on your complaint status. You can also check the status online at ConsumerFinance.gov.\n### Links You to Helpful Financial Resources\n**Saving Money**\n*   Personal Financial Management Program — Offering servicemembers personalized financial planning assistance.\n*   Savings Deposit Program — Providing guaranteed 10 percent interest on savings up to $10,000 while deployed.\n*   Thrift Savings Plan — Retirement savings and investment plan offering an annual expected return of 7 percent.\n**Paying for Education**\n*   Montgomery GI Bill\n*   Post 9\/11 GI Bill\n*   VEAP\/REAP\n*   Loans and Grants\n*   Scholarships\n**Emergency Assistance**\n*   Air Force Aid Society\n*   Army Emergency Relief\n*   Coast Guard Mutual Assistance\n*   Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society\n*   American Red Cross Financial Assistance for Servicemembers\n**Other Helpful Resources**\n*   General information on military pay\n*   Tax information\n*   Legal assistance\nThe CFPB also provides numerous links to various external resources on strategic money management.\n### Provides Tips On Protecting Your Finances\n**Avoiding VA Benefit Scams** — If you have yet to sign up for your VA benefits, be leery of anyone offering to help via phone or at your doorstep. They're scammers, as the VA does not participate in telemarketing and rarely makes house calls. What these scammers want is to steal your personal information and, subsequently, your identity, good credit, and money. Sign up for the real deal via the Department of Veteran Affairs.\n**Avoiding High Credit Card Rates** — If you have a credit card balance prior to entering into active duty, your credit card company cannot charge you more than 6 percent on your pre-active duty balance. (Note, the 6 percent cap does not apply to new credit card debt acquired while active.) So let your credit card company know as soon as you enter active duty. If they fail to comply with the 6 percent cap, submit a complaint to the CFPB.\n### Publishes Free Financial Guides\nFind links and details to all of the aforementioned resources at ConsumerFinance.gov. END