CRL in the News

"Education alone cannot stop predatory behaviors on the part of for-profit schools and servicers, nor can it help hundreds of thousands of Americans in serious debt because of these practices," said Whitney Barkley-Denney, senior policy counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending.

Mick Mulvaney, President Trump's acting head of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, for example, has been openly contemptuous of the agency he now runs. "We just have seen a general retreat from enforcing the fair lending laws and ensuring that fair housing opportunities are available to everyone," said Melissa Stegman, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending.

Rebecca Borne, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit devoted to promoting fair lending practices, said repealing the consumer provisions will send “a really damaging message” to auto lenders that the federal government is not serious about enforcing anti-discrimination laws. "For decades now, study after study has shown that discrimination in the auto-lending market is a...

"Overturning the auto lending guidance just opened the door to uncertainty across federal agencies that use rules and guidance to protect the public from financial predators," said Rebecca Borné, an attorney with the Center for Responsible Lending.

“Although it occurs, it’s rare for people to be openly racist. Most of the discrimination happens in a manner that the only way to prevent it is through disparate impact enforcement,” said Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending. “And if you say no disparate impact enforcement, you’re largely saying no discrimination enforcement at all.”

Republicans lawmakers are expected to overturn a rule designed to prevent discrimination by auto lenders. It’s part of a broader effort to roll back other regs using the Congressional Review Act.

"Mick Mulvaney has just told bankers he can hide their misconduct from the public by making the complaint database private," said Debbie Goldstein, executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending. "If he does so, he will be making it easier for predatory lenders to fleece consumers. That would violate the mission that Congress gave the consumer bureau: to...

Debbie Goldstein, executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending, told me such practices have been an open secret in the auto industry for many years. "People just aren't treated with fairness and respect by dealers," she said.

“Mick Mulvaney is letting predatory payday lenders off the hook while they rip off American consumers,” Diane Standaert, executive vice president for the consumer watchdog group, said in a statement. “The companies...have a well-documented history of causing borrowers financial devastation. If they have committed illegal actions, they should be held accountable.”

Still, even with the stepped-up enforcement, there are concerns that the state AGs can’t go after the really big financial companies such as Wells Fargo or Bank of America. States tend to go after smaller, state-chartered banks or non-banks like payday lenders and mortgage brokers. They also have less of a budget than the CFPB and thus may not be...