Press Releases

Ending Agency's Role Will Increase Housing Inequality, Encourage Financial Predators WASHINGTON, DC - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently issued a proposed rule that makes significant changes under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The bureau’s proposal will end the disparate impact standard for enforcement actions, allow lenders to discourage applicants by race, and limit the use of special...

Andrew Kushner, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, which applauded the decision by judges on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, said: "I think you will see other states take an interest in this and go down the same path that Colorado has.

Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Finds that Federal Law Allows States to Opt to Enforce Their Interest Rate Limits DENVER – A panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit today held that Colorado can protect its residents from out-of-state loans from state-chartered banks that carry interest rates above what is permitted under Colorado law. Predatory...

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of Education today published a final regulation limiting Public Service Loan Forgiveness for student loan borrowers, eliminating promised financial relief to students who forgo more lucrative career options to serve their communities. Jaylon Herbin, director of federal policy at the Center for Responsible Lending, issued the following statement: The PSLF regulation published today is the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Education and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) reached an agreement last Friday to reopen the path to student loan forgiveness for millions of Americans who have been repaying their loans for decades. The settlement ends months of legal battle over the administration’s efforts to block student debt cancellation for borrowers in the...

DURHAM, N.C. – Across America but below-the-radar, financial technology companies are using smartphones to issue predatory loans that they deny are loans, lobbying for legal exemptions, and defending against public and private lawsuits for violations of credit laws. To help policymakers and regulators navigate this new landscape, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) today released the policy brief “Nickel and...

New data show apps multiply costs and financial insecurity for borrowers – puncturing industry claims DURHAM, N.C. – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) today released a report, “Escalating Debt: The Real Impact of Payday Loan Apps Sold as Earned Wage Advances (EWA),” which shows that people who take out these loans experience steep and mounting costs as well as...

Washington, D.C. – Martin Eakes, chief executive officer of the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), today announced that Seema Agnani has joined the board of directors of the nonprofit, nonpartisan research and policy advocacy organization that works to promote financial fairness and economic opportunity for all, end predatory lending and close the racial wealth gap. Ms. Agnani is chief executive...

Proposal defies congressional intent and undermines borrowers’ reliance on the program WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) submitted a comment letter yesterday urging the U.S. Department of Education to withdraw its proposed changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The comment letter warns that the proposal would let the Education Department exclude otherwise eligible employers...

In response to news reports that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be allowed to continue with its plans to lay off more than 1,000 employees at the watchdog agency following a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in NTEU v. Vought, Mike Calhoun, president at the Center for Responsible Lending, issued the following statement...