Press Releases

Gainful Employment Rule Should Focus on Students, Not Institutions WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would loosen regulatory standards affecting for-profit colleges and other career education programs. Failing institutions will now have until February 2018 to submit alternate earnings appeals and until October 2017 to submit an intent to appeal. Further, in submitting appeals, these institutions also will no longer be required to meet threshold response rates for graduate survey participants or ensure that any state data used is representative of the

ATLANTA, GA. – Tomorrow, at this year’s Netroots Nation 2017 conference in Atlanta, Georgia, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) will host a panel entitled, Fintech: How Can Innovation Advance Civil Rights?, to discuss ways the financial technology (fintech) sector can help build a fair and inclusive financial marketplace for consumers, especially low-wealth families and communities of color. The panel will include representatives from New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA), LendingClub, the California Reinvestment Coalition, and the Center for Global Policy Solutions. Netroots Nation is the

Civil rights groups call for reform after CFPB data show financially vulnerable consumers still hammered by checking account overdraft fees WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a study exposing the extent to which large banks' abusive overdraft fees drain working families' checking accounts of needed funds. The study finds that nearly 80% of bank overdraft and non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees are borne by a small portion of accounts that tend to carry low balances and have relatively low monthly deposits. For one group of hard hit consumers, the

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos recently announced a decision to drop a plan that would have created a single student loan servicer for the nation. The reversal followed a related call by a group of bipartisan Senators to keep the Department’s current use of multiple loan servicers. Whitney Barkley-Denney, a senior policy counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending released the following statement: Secretary DeVos' decision to drop an ill-advised plan for a single loan servicer for the entire nation is a late recognition that acknowledges the problems

New Poll Shows that Congress Going Against Wishes of Constituents in Voting to Repeal a CFPB Rule that would Restore the Right of Americans to Take Financial Firms to Court WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House of Representatives is expected to vote today on H.J. Res. 111, a bill that would rescind a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that curtails forced arbitration clauses. A new poll from the Center for Responsible Lending and Americans for Financial Reform shows strong support, across the political spectrum and across the country, for the CFPB arbitration rule. Likely voters were

Senators and Representatives Announce Legislation to Repeal Consumer Bureau Rule that Restores Americans' Ability to Challenge Illegal Lending Actions in Court WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) announced legislation that would rescind a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule, which restores the ability of consumers to band together in a class action lawsuit to challenge the illegal behavior of banks, payday lenders, and other financial companies. The legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tuesday, July 18, at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT, Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) hosted a press teleconference on a national poll highlighting the country’s view of Wall Street and current financial regulation issues such as arbitration and payday lending six months into the Trump Administration. (Cong. Maxine Waters was not able to participate in the teleconference.) The poll showcases likely voters' views on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, debt collection practices, forced arbitration, payday lending, and Wall Street's

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Voters overwhelmingly favor regulation of Wall Street and strongly support the work of the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), according to a poll released today by Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). The poll, conducted by the bipartisan partners Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting last month, also revealed that more than 70 percent of likely voters believe that Wall Street holds too much influence in Washington under the Trump administration. “The poll makes clear that consumers want

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) policy analysis, " Been There; Done That," warns that banks are seeking the repeal of consumer protections established in 2013 that ensured that banks could no longer keep borrowers trapped in unaffordable payday loans. Six banks—Wells Fargo, US Bank, Regions Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Bank of Oklahoma and GuarantyBank—were making predatory payday loans to their own account holders until 2013, when a public outcry and risks to the banks’ safety and soundness led bank regulators to establish commonsense guidelines to curb these

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its final rule aimed to restrict forced arbitration and improve access to our judicial system for all consumers. Across the country, fine print agreements--from financial to employment contracts--too often include arbitration clauses to strip individuals from receiving their fair day in court. These agreements often ban class action lawsuits, leaving consumers unable to challenge widespread misconduct since it is often too expensive to pursue small-dollar disputes one-by-one in arbitration. While the CFPB did