San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer held a town hall Tuesday night to build support for her proposed Consumer Fairness and Public Protection Unit.
The unit would be tasked with everything from denied health insurance claims, rental and housing scams, Tijuana River Valley Sewage issues, predatory financial practices against seniors to toxic chemical deceptions, according to Lawson-Remer.
Lawson-Remer said at the town hall at University City High School's Auditorium she constantly hears from her District 3 constituents that they are being financially squeezed by hidden fees or aggressive debt collection tactics.
"We've been calling it an unfairness tax," she said, adding that honest business owners are being undercut by competitors who cheat.
Following the 2008 recession and financial crisis, the federal government established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to help the public.
The Trump administration has actively moved to dismantle, defund and restructure the bureau, viewing it as an overreaching, unconstitutional agency, which Lawson-Remer said would "mean higher costs and weaker protections here in San Diego County."
While residents can turn to nonprofit legal aid for help, such groups are limited in their capacity, Lawson-Remer said.
"Harm continues — not because it's legal, but because no public agency has the capacity to do it all," she told the approximately 60 people in attendance.
California cities with populations over 750,000 may form a consumer protection unit through a state "cause of action" law, according to Lawson- Remer.
Other California counties with a similar unit are Los Angeles and Santa Clara, along with three cities: San Diego, Oakland and San Francisco.
Lawson-Remer told the audience Wednesday that San Diego County has not created a similar office, "and that has to change."
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider Lawson-Remer's proposal to create a Consumer Fairness and Public Protection Unit on March 24.
Lawson-Remer told the San Diego Union-Tribune she would like to use money from the $200 million the county won from consumer protection lawsuits to finance the unit.
"That means, no new taxes and no new reductions to other county programs," Lawson-Remer told audience members.
The event also included questions from the audience, which ranged from concerns over a weakened CFPB to rising loan rates.
Lemon Grove Mayor Alysson Snow said public officials have the responsibility to help protect residents against bad financial actors, and hopes the San Diego County legal unit will help businesses, families and senior citizens.
"This program will benefit all of us," said Snow, a professor of practice at the University of San Diego School of Law. "Tough economic times stress families out ... This is a fight to make sure that we have peace in our homes."
"Bad businesses doing bad things should be held accountable," she added.
Snow noted that before the mortgage crisis early in the 21st century, there was no one watching out for the consumer.
"We cannot let these consumer protections dissipate and fade away," or there will be a repeat of 2008, she said.
Gerald Singleton, a San Diego attorney, said the county District Attorney's Office does a very good job prosecuting criminals, but there is whole other area not being addressed.
He said a new county legal can addresses a key gap on environmental harms, and recover environmental damages and fees.
Not only are such units self-sustaining, but can also generate revenue, Singleton said.
"It really is a win-win," he added.
Andrea Ross, an attorney with Los Angeles County's Office of the County Counsel, said that the proposed unit will investigate complaints about suspicious businesses. The No. 1 challenge is finding the offenders' physical location, Ross said.
"These people are smart, and they continue to shift and get ahead of you," she said. "It's whack-a-mole."
Joanne Franciscus, CEO of the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, said it is incumbent upon local and state governments to share information when it comes to enforcement.
Fraud and scams are underreported by the public, as victims feel a sense of shame, said Israel Hernandez Jr., associate state director for advocacy of AARP, the organization formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons
Another key factor in holding fraudsters accountable is that victims sense they won't get their money back, Hernandez said.
