CRL in the News

Maxine Waters of California is known as a partisan firebrand who gives as good as she gets, especially where President Trump is concerned. Now, with Democrats assuming control of the House in January, the California Democrat is about to become more visible than ever before, with the power to slow down an important part of Trump's agenda and even shine a light on his company's finances. "She is a tough and savvy defender of consumer protection and holds the feet of the banks and the Trump administration regulators to the fire," says Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending.

Colorado voters have overwhelmingly opted for tighter regulations on payday lending, easily approving a proposal to cap interest rates on the short-term loans. Colorado is now the 16th state, plus the District of Columbia, to limit loan rates. “APRs of 200% are gone. Huge win for Colorado consumers!” tweeted Danny Katz, the director of the Colorado Public Interest Research Group on Tuesday night.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Maxine Waters has been in the headlines recently more as an outspoken critic of the Trump administration than for her banking policy positions on the House Financial Services Committee. That will likely change as Waters is now viewed as the presumptive chair of the committee after Democrats won back control of the House Tuesday. That perch could undoubtedly give her a bully pulpit to focus on President Trump’s business dealings or more generally criticize the administration. But observers say a Waters-led panel could also showcase her broad legislative experience, which might

The percentage of South Florida households without a bank account— the so-called unbanked — rose in 2017 even as the national percentage fell last year, a new government survey shows. A full 8 percent of households in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metropolitan area were unbanked, borrowing money or cashing checks outside the banking system, according to an every-other-year survey released Tuesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, a major bank regulator.

Meet the new payday loan. It looks a lot like the old payday loan. Under the Obama administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau attempted to rein in abusive payday lending, by, among other measures, forcing lenders to ensure borrowers had the means to pay back their loans. The Trump administration, under interim CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney, is looking to roll back those rules and give payday lenders, who as an industry donated significant amounts of money to Mulvaney when he was a congressman, more room to operate. A high-profile rule proffered by the CFPB to govern payday loans is

“Not only has the legislature not done anything to reduce the harm, it has taken affirmative steps to expand the harm,” said Diane Standaert, executive vice president and director of state policy for the Raleigh, N.C.-based advocacy group Center for Responsible Lending. Consumer advocates in Mississippi agree. “I’ve heard it said that any business is a good business in Mississippi, even if it hurts its citizens,” said Charles Lee, consumer protection director for the Mississippi Center for Justice, adding this lending targets the “least capable of being able to defend themselves.”

Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat and potential 2020 presidential contender, has a Trump-size tax plan of her own. There are two other related issues the proposals would target. The first, as Harris said, is the persistence of payday lending in depressed neighborhoods and among lower-income families. Even given the good economy, and even given the passage of the Dodd-Frank bill, strip-mall lenders and tax preparation services continue to target the financially distressed, offering loans with annual interest rates higher than 300 percent and tax-refund advances that come with obscene

"They claim that these loans are different, are safer, are more affordable, but the reality is they carry all the same markers of predatory loans," said Diane Standaert, director of state policy at the Center for Responsible Lending. These markers include their high cost, the ability of lenders to access borrowers’ bank accounts, and that they are structured to keep borrowers in a cycle of debt. "We see all of those similar characteristics that have plagued payday loans," Standaert said.

It’s unclear exactly what led to the situation in Detroit, although the tough economic situation for the city and its residents in recent years has certainly contributed. The company has been investigated by regulators for potential wrongdoing, and it has faced accusations in cases across the U.S. of duping car buyers into taking on untenable loans, however no current probes in Michigan against Credit Acceptance appear to exist. But what’s clear is that, in recent years, Credit Acceptance has sharply increased the number of debt collection cases it has filed in the Motor City—and in a state

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's decision to stop examining financial firms for compliance with the Military Lending Act has sparked pushback not only from lawmakers and consumer advocates but also from the Defense Department and every major group representing military service members. Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney's claim that the Dodd-Frank Act does not give the bureau statutory authority to enforce the Military Lending Act is a major reversal from the Obama administration. As reported by several news outlets, Mulvaney has argued further legislation is needed to provide that