CRL in the News

Asha Clark doesn’t have any savings. She works full time. She earns a minimum wage, making phone calls as a customer service representative. In Las Vegas where she lives, that’s $8.25 an hour. Sometimes, her paycheck isn’t enough to cover all her bills. Those are times that Clark would take out a payday loan. In Nevada, there are more payday lenders than Starbucks and McDonald’s restaurants combined. They provide short-term loans that are meant to be repaid in full when the borrower gets their next paycheck. Each loan comes with fees – for example, about $75 in fees for a $500 loan. The

If you buy a new or used car, and a few days later the dealer tells you there’s been a problem with your financing, alarm bells should go off. You might be the victim of a “yo-yo” financing scam — so called because you’re pulled back into the dealership to renegotiate the deal at a higher interest rate and worse loan terms. Such scams are a twist on what’s known as a “spot delivery” in which the customer drives off in a car while the dealer continues shopping for their financing. By understanding yo-yo financing and what to watch out for at the dealership, you can avoid being put on the spot —

Many Atlanta-area students taking courses at a for-profit university are worried about its future because the school’s parent company is in financial trouble and they say officials are sharing scant information about the situation. Those concerns grew after federal education officials announced Wednesday they are giving the school, Argosy University, two weeks to show why it should continue to participate in federal student aid programs. Many schools that have been dropped from the aid programs have folded, and students often have trouble transferring their credits to another school, experts

In 2004, the pinnacle of homeownership in the United States, nearly half of all African American families owned a home, according to census data. The record figure, fueled by the housing boom of the early 2000s, was still one-third less than housing rates for whites. But it was widely viewed as a milestone for a minority group that spent generations largely shut out of a fundamental pillar of the American Dream. Yet, over the past decade, the real estate fortunes for African Americans have reversed course. Despite a strengthening economy, including record low unemployment and higher wages for

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Oregon's attorney general wants to better protect people who take out student loans. Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum publicly backed an initiative Monday to regulate student loan servicers like Navient and Nelnet. It would force servicers to become licensed under the state and educate students on the borrowing process. Student loan companies have been criticized for misleading borrowers into taking up costly loans. The attorney general's office says that at least 58 percent of students in Oregon graduate with debt. Outstanding student loan debt in the state has surpassed

The payday lending lobby has largely stayed under the radar in previous election cycles as other hot-button issues like Wall Street regulation and tax policy took up voters’ attention. But with Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), both advocates of consumer protections, officially running for president, the industry is gearing up for its first big political fight in the 2020 election cycle. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced on Feb. 6 its plan to gut a signature Obama-era payday lending rule that required lenders to confirm their borrowers can pay their

Millions of Americans have used payday loans. These are small, short-term loans known for charging staggering interest rates — sometimes in the 300 to 400% range. While the loans can provide quick financial relief to people who need it, the loans can quickly spiral and send borrowers into a cycle of debt. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is responsible for overseeing payday lending — and earlier this month, it announced it was delaying changes to payday regulations. Today on The Indicator, we look at the business of payday loans, and what it's like to get into a debt cycle with payday

The Miami New Times reports that the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) will host its annual conference at President Donald Trump’s golf resort in Doral this year. The CFSA, a trade group that represents payday loan companies, traditionally holds the conference in California during odd-numbered years. Sekinah Hamlin of the Center for Responsible Lending said the move is a “clear conflict of interest.” "Previously, they did not meet at his resorts, but it just so happens that once he became president, then they started meeting at his resorts. We don't think it's

In the coming weeks, Nevada lawmakers will see thousands of bright-yellow postcards dropped into their mailboxes. The postcards, sent by members of the inter-faith group Nevadans for the Common Good, will include handwritten notes and requests for legislators to support more funding for K-12 education, affordable housing tax credits and additional restrictions on payday lending. It’s part of a renewed effort by progressive groups and community activists to enshrine new restrictions on Nevada’s payday loan industry, two years after similar efforts to rein in the industry went down in flames

You’re hopelessly in credit card debt and considering bankruptcy. Wait — you don’t have to pay it all back, a television announcer claims. There’s “a secret that the credit card companies don’t want you to know.” This “secret” will wipe out card debts for a fraction of what you owe, promises the ad, which is for CreditAssociates, a credit card settlement company. “On average, we save our clients in excess of 55 percent of what they otherwise would owe,” CreditAssociates Executive VP Rick Burton told The Post. But critics question some debt-settlement services and their methods.