CRL in the News

A survey conducted last year by Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending found more than 90 percent of voters said regulation of financial services and products was important or very important. In 2012, 60 percent said the sector needed more oversight, not less.

There are 13 such stores are in Springfield and Urbana, many clustered on East Main and South Limestone streets. Ohio in all has more than 830 storefronts that offer payday or car title loans, most of which offer both forms of loans, according to a report by the Center for Responsible Lending.

Debbie Goldstein, vice president of advocacy group the Center for Responsible Lending, warned in a statement that the dismantling of the CFPB could result in a return to the predatory financial practices that necessitated it in the first place.

“She would work with [Comptroller of the Currency Joseph] Otting and work with regulators and work with her colleagues in Congress on something that is agreeable with the administration but also isn’t something that rolls back the CRA,” said Yana Miles, senior legislative counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending.

Center for Responsible Lending Senior Legislative Counsel Yana Miles called English a “revered public servant” who prioritized consumer protection. “Throughout her tenure at the CFPB, even before becoming Acting Director, she worked to significantly improve the lives of people across the country, especially in communities of color,” Miles said.

"We haven't made any progress in homeownership since the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968," said Nikitra Bailey, an executive vice president with the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit group that researches abusive lending practices. "The little progress we did make has been wiped away by the foreclosure crisis."

Among those expressing their regrets over English’s decision Friday was Yana Miles, senior legislative counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending. “Leandra English is a revered public servant with a history of prioritizing consumer protection,” Miles said. “With her help, the agency has been a vigilant enforcer of civil rights laws and combatant of discriminatory practices in the financial marketplace...

“We haven’t made any progress in homeownership since the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968,” said Nikitra Bailey, an executive vice president with the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit that researches abusive lending practices. “The little progress we did make has been wiped away by the foreclosure crisis.”

Be very wary of a contractor or other professional who is pushing you to take out a loan or steering you toward a specific lender or loan broker, says Sarah Wolff, former senior researcher for the Center for Responsible Lending.

HR 3299 and HR 4439 would clear the way for payday lenders to evade state usury laws and make loans with triple-digit interest rates, by making deals to operate under a bank's charter. Diane Standaert, executive vice president and director of state policy with the Center for Responsible Lending, called it a "rent-a-bank" scheme that would void any state consumer-protection...