CRL in the News

Payday loans are marketed as quick cash to help people get to their next paycheck, but they come at a great cost with an average interest of 300 percent and people getting multiple loans over time, according to a 2016 report. The Community Financial Services Association of America, which lobbies on behalf of payday lenders, held their annual conference in...

Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced the Preventing Risky Operations from Threatening the Education and Career Trajectories of Students ( PROTECT Students) Act of 2019, a bill that would enshrine in law many key reforms sought by advocates for veterans and other students in order to prevent predatory practices by for-profit colleges. Many in the for-profit...

Payday loans can be a welcome rescue for people without credit or who are hit with an unexpected emergency, but small, short-term loans can accumulate debt in weeks due to interest rates that can reach 500 percent or higher. What does it take to pay off a loan secured by the promise of a future paycheck? What are the risks...

A Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fix is on Washington’s agenda —- again. Congress this week kicks off its latest attempt to forge a path forward for the mortgage giants, something that’s proved extremely elusive in the 11 years that the companies have been under U.S. control. Starting Tuesday, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo will hold two days of...

In recent years, a number of major for-profit operators such as Education Corporation of America, Vatterott Colleges, Education Management Corporation, ITT Tech and Corinthian Colleges have abruptly closed their doors under the weight of mismanagement, scandal and state and federal investigations. As a result, tens of thousands of students have been left wondering how to recover the time and money...

Former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray attacked the Trump Administration today for retreating on consumer financial protection. Aggressive policies are needed to protect consumers, said Cordray, pointing to mortgage market abuses that helped to propel the recession as a poster child. He urged states to take up the slack. “More consumer protection from the states is a good...

Daniel Radford and Jim Jones might be miles and years apart, but they’re as close to right on as they can get. Today you’ll read, on the facing page, a piece penned by young Radford, a sophomore at prestigious Emory University in Georgia. Radford hails from Sandpoint. On the March 8 op-ed page, The Press published an opinion piece written...

A large coalition of consumer advocacy, non-profit and religious groups is calling on state legislators to scrap a controversial short-term lending bill. The legislation passed through the state Senate and now awaits a hearing in a house committee. While some lawmakers say the proposal gives more options to Hoosiers with bad credit, opponents say it will only worsen their financial...

Several organizations, including the Indiana Institute for Working Families, met at the Indiana Statehouse 3rd floor atrium March 11 to explain their opposition to a subprime lending bill co-authored by Huntington’s state senator. State Sen. Andy Zay, R-Huntington, co-authored Senate Bill 613, which the Center for Responsible Lending said would allow lenders to exceed for everyone but active military personnel...

In a recent op-ed, Consumer Bankers Association President Richard Hunt asserts that bank payday loans were a service to customers and argues that they should be restarted. The facts, though, show that while these loans produced huge fees for banks, they were a usurious debt trap for bank customers. Just a few years ago, banks were making 200%-plus APR payday...