CRL in the News

This list honors the corporate lobbyists, hired guns, association leaders and grassroots activists who leveraged their expertise and connections to make a difference in the nation’s capital this year. Grassroots advocates won hard-fought battles to secure some of this year’s most significant bipartisan measures, including the first gun violence bill in decades and legislation to expand benefits for veterans exposed...

“This poll reveals Americans of all ideological stripes support the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. People want the CFPB to stop financial discrimination and other unfair practices. Any move to defang this consumer watchdog would be extremely unpopular,” said Charla Rios, deputy director of research at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL).

The Center for Responsible Lending studied complaints made by consumers to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Better Business Bureau regarding buy now, pay later options. Based on those complaints, some consumers said they had faced delays in receiving refunds, had difficulty resolving disputes and were upset when they still had to make repayments during a dispute process. "They...

Nadine Chabrier, senior policy council at the Center for Responsible Lending, worries about consumers who take out multiple BNPL loans. “It’s easy to lose track, and you can quickly be in a situation where you have payments due all over the month,” Chabier told Checkbook. “You don’t get a statement, and you may end up getting overdraft fees if you...

Whether it’s buying a home, saving for retirement or starting a business, student debt makes it difficult for graduates of historically Black colleges and universities to build wealth after college, a new report shows. The report, from the Durham-based Center for Responsible Lending, evaluated polling, focus group and public education data to gauge the impact of heavy debt burdens —...

The increase was larger for Black and Latino buyers because their homeownership rates were so much lower to begin with, said Mike Calhoun, the president of the Center for Responsible Lending.

The Center for Responsible Lending, a North Carolina-based nonprofit research organization that works to end predatory lending, released a study in late September that examined the "persistent harms of high-cost installment loans," a form of predatory lending that includes "rent-a-bank" loans. The group says it found predatory loans had a greater impact on people of color and people with low...

Nadine Chabrier is senior policy and litigation counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, and spoke with the Standard about why consumers should use caution when financing with Buy Now, Pay Later. She said that, while the loans aren’t inherently predatory, they can quickly rack up fees if borrowers aren’t careful. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript...

"If this bill passes, it will not be the end of rewards programs. They are one of the most important ways that credit card companies attract and keep some of their most profitable customers. And so they will continue to use that as a way to get those customers and keep them," said Mike Calhoun with the Center for Responsible...

The CRL is particularly concerned about TD's overdraft practices and is advocating for the bank to change those policies, said Nadine Chabrier, senior policy and litigation counsel at the center. Such a change could be part of a community benefit agreement, but those tend to focus on lending, and the center wants those changes to be made now, she added...