Legislation Seeks Debt-Free College Degrees and Real Career Opportunities

Source
Charlene Crowell | Center for Responsible Lending
“For too long, for-profit colleges have failed to serve the educational purpose for which they were intended,” Harrington said. “The combination of high costs and low graduation rates by these bad actors have resulted in unfair burdens for student borrowers and taxpayers. This bill improves accountability for all higher education institutions and creates a sensible path to fix our broken...

Education Department Shielding Bad Actors

Source
Charlene Crowell | Center for Responsible Lending
“If it wasn’t clear before, it certainly is now,” observed Whitney Barkley-Denney, a senior policy counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending. “The Department of Education and Secretary DeVos are more interested in shielding corporate actors like Navient and for-profit colleges from taking responsibility for their bad acts.”

Trump CFPB Pick Would Be First Director of Consumer Agency with Student Debt

Source
Ben Wieder | The Charlotte Observer
"While Ms. Kraninger's own status as one of 44 million Americans with outstanding student loan debt provides her with some insight, this is but a drop compared to a tidal wave of evidence weighing against her nomination," said Ashley Harrington, counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending. "Student borrowers need a director who will be their champion - she is...

Would Trump's CFPB Pick Silence Consumers?

Source
Debbie Goldstein | Center for Responsible Lending
Many Americans have felt the frustration of getting the run-around from a customer service agent or finding an unhelpful recording at the end of a financial company’s complaint line. When someone has been cheated out of money and their family’s wellbeing is at stake, this experience is more than an annoyance — it’s an injustice that for too long left...

These Startups Want to Buy a Share of Your House. Is That a Good Idea?

Source
Andy Rosen | Boston Globe
“When you’re dealing with primary residences, that’s a situation that could have potential lifetime repercussions,” said Scott B. Astrada, director of federal advocacy for the Center for Responsible Lending. “Some of the models I’ve seen raise a lot of questions and concerns that we don’t have answers to yet — and I don’t think anyone does.” He also questioned what...

Black Unemployment Rate Ticks Up While Homeownership Declines

Source
Kori Hale | Forbes
Many African American households are worse off than they were 30 years ago. About eight percent of African-American homeowners lost their properties to foreclosure from 2007 to 2009, according to estimates from the Center for Responsible Lending. Also, only 43% of black people owned homes in 2017 , according to an annual report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies...