Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yana Miles, a Senior Legislative Counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), released the following statement today after the U.S. Department of the Treasury released its review of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a bill signed into law in 2010 that reformed our financial system to prevent abusive financial practices and avoid another Great Recession: The Treasury Department’s report offers no real solutions to make consumer protection a top priority. It recommends politicizing and weakening the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and

Wrong Choice Act eviscerates consumer protections and eliminates safeguards to prevent another Great Recession WASHINGTON, D.C. – Later today, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass H.R. 10, the so-called Financial Choice Act, an extreme measure that would roll back Dodd-Frank. This radical bill, dubbed the Wrong Choice Act, would expose American families to risky financial practices that were the primary culprits of the 2007 financial crisis and the ensuing Great Recession. The legislation severely obstructs the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A group of national civil rights organizations sent a letter to U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) today urging them to fight against legislative efforts that would eliminate affordable housing goals in GSE reform. The letter is in response to a recent housing report released by the Bipartisan Policy Center. The report recommended policies that would make it extremely difficult for low-income families and communities of color to participate in the housing market today and in the future. The letter was signed

One year ago, CFPB issued a proposed rule to stop the debt trap. Today, Congress seeks to advance bill to gut CFPB and give a free pass to payday lenders. The CFPB's ability to issue a strong rule against the abuses of 300% payday loans is exactly why Congress should be defending the CFPB, not attacking it. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Consumer advocates and civil rights organizations are calling on Congress to let the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finish its job of finalizing a strong rule on payday and car-title lending. A year ago today, people from across the country gathered in Kansas

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced the launch of DeVos Watch, a new online resource that will elevate emerging issues affecting actions and developments pursued by U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The online platform will be hosted on Senator Warren's website. Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Counsel Ashley Harrington released the following statement: We applaud Senator Warren's leadership for holding Secretary DeVos and the Department of Education accountable to students and parents. This new resource will be valued not only by

OAKLAND, Calif. – AB 784, a bill to curb abuses by lenders charging more than 100% interest on loans of more than $2,500, was stalled in the Assembly Appropriations Committee last Friday, effectively preventing the proposal from moving forward to a floor vote. Earlier last week, Assembly Banking Committee Chair and author of the bill, Matt Dababneh (D-Encino), proposed a set of amendments that would have greatly limited the bill's protections by exempting car-title loans and loans that could be targeting small business. Dababneh's provisions would have allowed lenders to charge borrowers as

WASHINGTON – Consumer and civil rights groups released the following statements today following oral arguments in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in PHH Corporation vs. CFPB. The hearing is a result of the Court’s decision to grant the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) petition for the full court to hear the case following a panel’s erroneous 2-1 ruling (PDF) that the President may remove the CFPB Director without cause. The panel’s decision last year undermines the agency’s independence to regulate the financial services industry and protect consumers from bad

President's Proposal would Eliminate Consumer Watchdog and Drive Americans Deeper into Debt WASHINGTON, DC -- Alongside a parade of horribles in the White House budget, the proposal's attempt to completely defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stands out. The Consumer Bureau has returned approximately $12 billion to the pockets of Americans who had money illegally taken from them by the predatory actions of financial companies, including Wells Fargo, payday lenders, and debt collectors. Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Senior Legislative Counsel Yana Miles released the following

The Department of Education Budget Cuts Funds from Better Alternatives to Predatory For-Profits and Eliminates Aids to Debt Reduction WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) assessed that cuts of $10.6 billion from federal education initiatives announced in the Department of Education’s proposed budget include measures that will drive low-income college students to for-profit colleges that leave them with heavy debt and frequently, no degrees. The budget is also expected to exacerbate the explosive burden of student loan debt that now follows millions of Americans

New Rules Will Create a Monopoly for a Single Servicer and Eliminate Requirements for Several Important Services WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) expressed concern that new requirements released by the U.S. Department of Education in its contract solicitation for a future loan servicer will narrow the nation’s student loan servicers from nine to a single servicer, essentially creating a monopoly over management of a $1.3 trillion loan portfolio. The requirements also eliminate several services that the former administration had expected of student loan