CRL in the News

At the height of the financial crisis in 2008, an estimated one out of every 54 homeowners lost their homes. Workers and seniors lost lifetimes’ worth of savings or retirement accounts, small businesses went under, and vulnerable consumers fell victim to toxic and manipulative financial products offered by Wall Street and the big banks.

Presionan para abrir el mercado hipotecario. Aunque el mercado de las casas se expande y se decretan leyes que protegen a los prestatarios, los consumidores latinos y afroamericanos siguen batallando para conseguir crédito hipotecario a buen precio. Una defensora del consumidor comenta sobre la práctica del redlining, la nueva agencia federal que protege a los consumidores de servicios fnancieros, y...

The study also found that, among ZIP codes with six or more payday lending stores, the share of black and Latino residents exceeded their share of the overall state population. Graciela Aponte-Diaz, director of California policy for the Center for Responsible Lending, said that supported the notion that payday lenders were targeting those communities.

Students should look beyond college-sponsored debit cards when choosing payment options on campus, said Whitney Barkley-Denney, policy counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending. By comparing terms of accounts off campus, she said, they may find accounts with lower fees elsewhere. Credit unions, in particular, may be worth investigating, she said.

"The most effective consumer protection laws at the state level should not be undermined by bad new financial products that could open the doors for predatory lending," said Courtney Robinson, policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending. "A federally chartered fintech lender would avoid state interest rate caps, leaving people vulnerable to financial services abuse."

A series of developments following the Wells Fargo scandal has now led to the introduction of legislation designed to bring financial justice to the millions of consumers affected by fees and fraudulent accounts they never authorized nor opened. On Dec. 1, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio introduced a bill that would grant Wells Fargo victims their own day in...

“We need a strong and independent CFPB agency and director now more than ever. If the 2008 financial crisis showed us anything, it’s that people need an independent regulator to look after the interests of consumers,” says Mike Calhoun, President of the Center for Responsible Lending. “Director Cordray has led the Bureau with a steady hand and worked tirelessly with...

Although the CFPB is in the crosshairs, moving to effectively neutralize the agency could also backfire for the Trump regime. About nine of 10 Americans say regulating financial products is important to make sure they’re fair to consumers, according to a 2016 survey from the Center for Responsible Lending and Americans for Financial Reform.

South Dakota residents who voted for Trump also overwhelmingly voted in favor of a state measure that caps interest rates on payday loans at 36%; around three-quarters of voters backed the measure. Payday lenders in the state have been able to charge triple-digit interest rates under current law. Voters also rejected a competing measure pushed by the payday industry that...

Any GSE reform will need to prioritize access and affordability for all creditworthy borrowers, says Nikitra Bailey, executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending. “People of color and lower-wealth families have been successful in homeownership when they receive safe and responsible loan products,” she says. “However, they are being locked out of the marketplace.”