CRL in the News

Ashley Harrington, special assistant to the president at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit aimed at fighting predatory lending practices, wants the government to change the way it sets federal student loan interest rates.

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...

“Fifty years ago, Congress empowered HUD to dismantle legalized discrimination in housing to create opportunity for all as where you live is a factor in so many of life’s outcomes, including education and healthcare,” noted Nikitra Bailey, an EVP with the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). “Rep. Waters’ new bill requires HUD to remain steadfast in its responsibility to foster...

Regardless of whether Otting has personally experienced discrimination, his position requires that he effectively enforce fair-lending laws, including the Community Reinvestment Act — a law that was enacted to address divestment in communities comprised of low-to-moderate income families, people of color and rural residents. The CRA has done important work to drive financial equity and ensure banks serve all communities...

Of course, many borrowers might still be better off with loan forgiveness. But according to Ashley Harrington, a staff member at the Center for Responsible Lending, the problem is that most borrowers don’t realize this tax bill is coming. Harrington told the WSJ she is concerned about the average borrower’s ability to pay.

“The CRA has done important work to drive financial equity and ensure banks serve all communities where they have a financial footprint,” noted Scott Astrada, Federal Advocacy Director with the Center for Responsible Lending. “Comptroller Otting’s proposal to radically restructure the law should be closely scrutinized because, given his remarks, he is apparently oblivious to the historic and systemic discrimination...

The CFPB needs these liberties, supporters say, to maintain its primary purpose in protecting American consumers of financial products and services. Within its seven years of operation, the CFPB has supplied 31 million Americans with over $12.4 billion in relief funds in cases of illegal financial dealings. “The 2008 financial crisis proved the need for the CFPB, a successful independent...

Borrowers generally are better off because they are having debt forgiven, but Ashley Harrington of the Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer-advocacy group, said many student-loan borrowers are unaware they will face a big tax bill. “We’re very concerned” about the borrowers’ ability to repay," she said.

But critics of the banks say the banks could be doing more under the current rules to expand whom they lend to, especially when they have so much spare capital. Michael Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending, said deregulation could lead to less lending. He asserted that possible changes to the Community Reinvestment Act could reduce the presence...

“A decade ago, excessive Wall Street greed and predatory lending led to a tsunami of unnecessary foreclosures that took away the homes of millions of hardworking families," said Nikitra Bailey, Executive Vice President at the Center for Responsible Lending. "That experience should have served as a warning to this administration about the harmful costs of reckless deregulation letting greed go...