CRL in the News

After some two years of deliberation, the U.S. Department of Education has released final rules meant to protect students from colleges that close or defraud them. The “borrower defense to repayment” rule allows students to have their federal student loans discharged in cases where they were given false or misleading information, for example. The closed school discharge gives some students...

Consumer advocates and lenders are joining forces to try to revamp or eliminate a key part of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's "qualified mortgage" rule establishing underwriting standards for most of the housing market. Lenders fear the market will take a major hit under an agency plan released last month that would end an exception to QM given to loans...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, once one of the most aggressive regulators of education loan companies, is signaling a retreat from oversight of federal student loans by limiting the duties of its new ombudsman. On Friday, the bureau announced the appointment of Robert G. Cameron as its ombudsman for private education loans, charged with receiving, reviewing and resolving borrower complaints...

Something very important, affecting millions of consumers, won’t happen Monday. That’s when new protections from abusive payday and car-title lenders were set to take effect, requiring the firms to make sure borrowers can pay back their obligations in a reasonable amount of time and don’t become mired in debt . However, the Trump administration is delaying this perfectly reasonable safeguard...

Student loan debt is no doubt a drag on the U.S. economy, holding back how much money young consumers can spend on cars, homes and even invest in 401(k) plans or new businesses. But the debt crisis is giving an early kick start to the 2020 Democratic presidential race. One candidate after another has generated some buzz by offering up...

This week, the Center for Responsible Lending and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) released a report finding that student loan debt is unsustainable for many student borrowers, especially borrowers of color. “ Quicksand: Borrowers Of Color & The Student Debt Crisis” offers policy recommendations for reforming the country’s broken and inefficient student loan system, close...

When Senator Elizabeth Warren, a contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, joined House Majority Whip James Clyburn in unveiling an ambitious student debt cancellation bill Tuesday, she said they weren’t “looking for one headline” about the $640 billion proposal. Clyburn, a member of the Democratic leadership, said he plans to push legislation that could pass in the House. The...

Outstanding student debt continues to grow, with some 43 million Americans owing a total $1.4 trillion in federal student loan debt alone. The decade-long disinvestment in public higher education and the inability of underfunded colleges that serve minorities to deepen access contributes to borrowing disparities, the report notes. In response, black and Latino students, in particular, have been disproportionate targets...

A coalition of consumer groups is asking the CFPB to extend the comment period for the agency’s controversial proposed debt collection rules by two months.

Even as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) moves to update the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act of 1977 to better reflect the impact of newer communications technology, some consumer advocates point to the inadequacy of the proposed measures. The consumer protection agency has invited public comment on the proposed update, which would set up rules on how debt collectors...