CRL in the News

More than 37,800 student loan borrowers who were tricked by a student loan debt relief operation soon will share more than $3.3 million in restitution, thanks to enforcement action announced in mid-June by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

About 41 million student loan borrowers who would have been eligible for loan relief totaling nearly $3.9 billion, according to the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), will now need to start paying back that debt in the fall. This also comes at a time when borrowers are now living through higher inflation and fears of a recession—factors likely to create...

Jaylon Herbin, director of federal campaigns for the Center for Responsible Lending, told Law360 that it will also be critical to ensure student loan servicers have the bandwidth to handle an influx of borrowers who will be returning to repayment this fall and may have questions or need help. "We also want to make sure that there's no predatory lending...

Much like payday loans, consumers who use EWA products may become dependent on the service to make ends meet, putting them at risk of falling behind on payments and getting hit with overdraft or non-sufficient funds fees, said Andrew Kushner, a policy counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending. “It’s really dishonest advertising. These products advertise themselves as having 0...

The Center for Responsible Lending and various other nonprofit groups had urged DeSantis, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, to veto the bill. "We do not doubt that lenders will flock to Florida if you sign this bill into law since there are few states that allow lenders to charge borrowers 36% interest for loans up...

“We want to make sure that communities of color understand the importance of canceling student loan debt — how it will impact them directly,” said Jaylon Herbin, director of federal campaigns at the Center for Responsible Lending. Canceling student debt will open the doors for many students of color, including those who are first-generation college students. “We know that those...

“A person doesn’t necessarily go into a loan product assuming that they’re going to be harmed, and I think that is the general business model of this type of product,” said Charla Rios, acting director of research for the Center for Responsible Lending and author of the report. “They know that once a person comes in seeking funds, they’re under...

One joint brief includes Self Help Federal Credit Union and its state-charted sister, Self Help Credit Union, both community development credit unions based in Durham, N.C. It also includes its policy affiliate, The Center for Responsible Lending, also based in Durham. “The CFPB’s funding structure is constitutional and critical to ensuring that it can carry out its consumer protection mission...

Some states, particularly Utah, have relatively loose limits on the interest rates that banks chartered within their borders can charge. Those banks sometimes work with high-cost lenders to offer loans with rates above what Colorado and other stricter states would otherwise allow — an arrangement that consumers advocate deride as the "rent-a-bank" model. That approach is "saddling working families with...

Knowledge is power, and this is especially true when it comes to financial literacy. Gimmicks like “skeptical payday loans” and “E-Z Credit” companies’ prey on this lack of information while taking their toll on families and many in urban neighborhoods. As a matter of fact, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, these companies are heavily concentrated in Black and...