CRL in the News

The rate of Black homeownership in America – now at 41.1 percent, according to 2019 U. S. Census numbers – is even lower than it was when the U. S. Fair Housing Act was signed into law 51 years ago on April 11, 1968. This means Black homeownership is 32.1 percentage points lower than that of Whites, which stands at...

Consumers saddled with student loan debt often have to delay financial goals, like buying a home. But for those who want the benefits of ownership before their student debt is paid off, Fannie Mae has options that can make it easier to qualify and handle the monthly payments. While you can’t give specific financial advice to clients, you can help...

There’s the West Chester, Pa., woman irate over the $25 broadcast and sports fees she pays every month though she never watches sports—and about the $150 cancellation fee when she quit her provider. Or the traveler in Texas who found that every time he went through a highway toll, the car-rental company dinged him $15 on top of the toll...

Credit unions are warning that a proposal from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would significantly reduce access to financial services. Sanders, I-Vt., and Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., introduced their Stop Loan Sharks Act in mid-May, a policy proposal that would cap interest rates at 15% for consumer loans, including credit cards and payday loans. But some credit union executives are...

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- Arizona got rid of payday loans a decade ago because of exorbitant interest rates that preyed on low-income families. Now, some Arizona advocacy groups are pushing to crack down on car title loans.

Consumer groups today applauded passage of the Consumers First Act. The previous leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recovered over $12 billion in restitution and cancelled debts for over 30 million Americans. Under its new leadership, the CFPB has not lived up to that standard. It has failed to adequately enforce the rules, while advancing a set of proposals...

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is bringing back legislation that takes aim at the big banks by severely curbing their use of overdraft fees. These fees come up when people spend or withdraw more than their available checking account balance, and they’ve become a crucial source of revenue for financial institutions that have long targeted low-income customers who struggle the most...

Education experts hope billionaire Robert F. Smith’s surprise announcement Sunday that he’ll pay the student loan debt for this spring’s graduating class at Morehouse College will be a game changer. “I hope (Smith) starts off a trend,” former Spelman College president Beverly Tatum said Monday. Rising student loan debt has been one of the most troubling issues in higher education...

While the 2020 hopefuls have been focused on introducing new legislation, the current administration is working to reverse some existing laws. For example, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ― an organization established in the wake of the Great Recession to serve as a consumer watchdog ― might soon roll back some Obama-era rules surrounding payday lenders. The Trump administration, which...

Advocates from across the country are sounding off on what they say are efforts by the Trump administration to weaken protections against predatory payday lending, which sees borrowers pay skyrocketing interest rates, locking them into an inescapable cycle of debt. Under a rule set to go into effect later this year, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will rescind an...