An abused wife opens a credit card statement and discovers her abuser ran up $40,000 in her name. A soldier overseas finds out a predatory lender jacked his car-loan rate while he was deployed. A family buried under medical debt tries to negotiate a settlement with the help of a debt relief company. And a Washington lobby group spends millions making sure they can’t.

Meet the American Financial Services Association. AFSA says it’s fighting for consumers. Don’t buy it. AFSA is a creditor trade group that has gone to war against domestic violence survivors, military families, and working Americans drowning in debt.

Yet just weeks ago, AFSA President and CEO Celia Winslow appeared before Congress to attack the debt relief industry, portraying it as a threat to consumers while presenting a one-sided picture of the facts. Before lawmakers accept AFSA as a credible voice for consumers, they should take a closer look at the organization’s own record.

The problem isn’t that AFSA represents........

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