Press Releases

Washington, DC – More than 15 national organizations (listed below) issued the following joint statement in response to the Foreclosure Prevention Act and its failure to include bankruptcy measures: "The Senate Housing package misses the single most significant step needed to help the 20,000 American families with subprime loans that are losing their homes each week through foreclosure: the bankruptcy...

In response to bankruptcy measures that would help more than half a million families being dropped for the Senate housing package, the following 15 civil rights, consumer and housing groups – Center for Responsible Lending, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, ACORN, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Lawyers' Committee...

The Federal Reserve Board has repeatedly tried since September to contain the foreclosure crisis damage that's spreading rapidly into the general economy. It has lowered key interest rates a half dozen times and, to quote the Wall Street Journal, "undertaken the broadest expansions of its lending authority since the 1930s." The most dramatic action, however, came last weekend as the...

The housing, economic, and mortgage rescue proposal from House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank is extremely helpful and the Center for Responsible Lending commends him for taking a lead on this issue. His plan recognizes much more help is needed for victims of the subprime mess than is now available. While we welcome any and all plans that help...

We're glad the Administration finally recognizes that the subprime crisis was caused by reckless lenders who've been inadequately supervised by federal regulators. The President's Working Group on Financial Markets recognizes the problem was caused largely by "weak government oversight," which allowed loan originators to make loans without regard to whether families could afford to repay them. This diagnosis is correct...

The Institute for Foreclosure Legal Assistance today announced it has awarded $6.5 million in grants to 27 legal-aid offices in 19 states and the District of Columbia. The grants are the first step in a multi-year program to bolster local groups nationwide who are assisting the growing legion of borrowers facing foreclosure. The Institute, a project of the Center for...

Yesterday the mortgage lending industry successfully stopped a Senate bill, "The Foreclosure Prevention Act" from moving forward. This bill (S. 2636) includes key provisions that would prevent well over 1/2 million foreclosures and avoid property declines of $200 billion. "While many members of Congress are working hard to prevent foreclosures, some members of the lending industry are preventing legislation that...

For the third time in four months, the Treasury Department has announced a plan ("Project Lifeline") to encourage the lending industry to do more to prevent an alarming level of foreclosures. The Department's proposals underscore the serious economic damage triggered by reckless lending in the subprime market, which has produced the worst housing decline since the Great Depression. We at...

New legislation introduced today by House Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) curbs some of the most abusive credit card lending practices, consumer groups said. "This legislation is an important step forward in eliminating the worst credit card tricks and traps that sap billions of dollars from...

Recently the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) released an analysis showing that during the third quarter of 2007, mortgage lenders initiated foreclosures seven times more frequently than they modified mortgages, and 13 times more frequently than they modified problematic adjustable-rate subprime loans. In addition, CRL estimated that under the Treasury Department's voluntary plan, only 3% of homeowners (118,200) with adjustable-rate...