The Financial Reform Bill and You

HuffPost has clarified how the new (and weak) Financial Reform Bill could affect you. We've truncated it here for your convenience:

1. Consumer Protection: A new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to be housed in the Federal Reserve but run independently, will have the power to write consumer protection rules for banks and other financial institutions, like mortgage lenders. More on this.

2. Credit & Debit Cards: Under the new legislation, stores, restaurants, etc. may no longer set their own minimum purchase limits. The minimum can be no more than $10, and only the Federal Reserve can raise it. The Federal Reserve will also have the power to limit the fees that card issuers can collect on debit-card transactions. But the rule applies only to big banks, not to credit-card issuers such as Visa and MasterCard. More on this.

3. Credit Scores: While you're entitled to one free credit report a year from each of the three credit reporting agencies under federal law, you almost always have to pay to see your actual score. Under the overhaul rules, any lender that turns down a borrower — whether it's for a mortgage, a department store credit card or an auto loan — because of his or her credit score has to tell the borrower what that score is, and for free. More on this.

4. Mortgages: Remember all those risky mortgages that borrowers got without ever showing proof of income? The ones that blew up and set off the housing crisis? Under the new rules, lenders will have to verify a borrower's income, credit history and employment status. On top of that, banks will have to hold on to at least 5 percent of the loans they make instead of selling them to investors. The idea is that they'll take fewer risks when they have skin in the game and aren't slicing, dicing and selling all their loans. More on this.

5. Investor Protection: Regulators will have the authority to require all financial advisers to act in their clients' best interest. Practically speaking, this means disclosing fees, any disciplinary actions and potential conflicts of interest, such as commissions. Until now, not all brokers who sell stocks, bonds, annuities and other investments have to make such disclosures. They could steer you into mutual funds or college savings plans that pad their firms' profits or their own commissions, and you might never know. More on this.

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