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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Winston Berkman-Breen, Legal Director of Student Borrower Protection Center
1:27:01
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127 sec
Winston Berkman-Breen, Legal Director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, testified on the importance of a strong Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) in New York City. He emphasized the critical role of DCWP in protecting consumers, especially given the current dismantling of federal consumer protections.
- Highlighted a 142% increase in consumer complaints filed by New York City residents with the CFPB from 2023 to 2024.
- Stressed the need for increased funding for DCWP to meet growing demands and compensate for federal fallbacks in consumer protection.
- Praised DCWP as one of the most proactive, sophisticated, and committed consumer protection agencies nationwide.
Winston Berkman-Breen
1:27:01
Alright.
1:27:02
Thank you, chairman and members of the committee.
1:27:03
My name is Winston Berkman Breen.
1:27:05
I'm the legal director at the Student Borrower Protection Center, a national nonprofit advocacy litigation and research group focused on ending the student debt burden in New York and across the country.
1:27:14
Our work focuses on all consumer and financial practices facing students and workers, including loan origination, servicing debt collection.
1:27:21
Prior to the SPPC, I was a legal services attorney here in New York City and a state financial regulator for New York.
1:27:27
At SPPC, we regularly work with federal, state, and local regulators and consumer protection agencies.
1:27:33
The New York City DCWP is consistently one of the most proactive, sophisticated, and committed of our partners nationwide.
1:27:40
I'll submit written testimony about the agency's many accomplishments and the concrete ways in which it keeps, dollars in New Yorkers' pockets and protects citizens and workers.
1:27:48
It does this through examination of licensees, investigations, enforcement of consumer protection laws against bad actors, and coordinating the network of direct service providers, of which I used to be one at NILAG, who actually sit down with New Yorkers and help them with their issues.
1:28:02
Today, I wanna focus on the extraordinary moment we're in and the need for New Yorkers to have a strong DCWP.
1:28:08
Our consumer protections at the federal level are actively being dismantled.
1:28:12
The Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been shuttered.
1:28:15
The Department of Education, which administers federal student loans, had half its workforce fired last week, including the entire office of the ombudsperson.
1:28:23
New Yorkers need someone to look out for them.
1:28:25
According to the CFPB's public consumer complaint database, in 02/2024, New York City residents filed 108,099 complaints with the agency.
1:28:36
That's up from 44,669 in 2023.
1:28:40
That's a 142% increase.
1:28:43
In 2022, they filed twenty six seven eighty five.
1:28:46
So that's roughly 27,000 to 45,000 jumping to one zero eight thousand.
1:28:51
Clearly, there is a growing need to protect New Yorkers, which coincides with the federal fallback.
1:28:57
So I would just say we heard a lot about, my time is up, budgets and vacancies.
1:29:01
Just give them the money that they need.
1:29:02
This is a question of bandwidth.
1:29:04
We know they have a good track record, and this is not a time to cut corners.
Julie Menin
1:29:07
Thank you.
Winston Berkman-Breen
1:29:08
Thank you.