Press Releases

A nationwide survey shows that low-income people, single people, and many people of color are increasingly turning to borrowing money from financial institutions by over-drawing their checking accounts, racking up interest rates that can exceed 1,000 percent. A telephone survey of 3,310 households done for the Center for Responsible Lending shows that a mere 16 percent of bank customers account...

Local and national groups opposing housing discrimination urged the county council of Montgomery County, Md. to support a fair lending ordinance and not reverse its commitment to fair housing for everyone. Mortgage lenders sued the county for passing an ordinance prohibiting lenders from discriminating. Their lawyers persuaded a judge to delay the new law, supposed to take effect last week...

Yesterday, Attorney General Roy Cooper announced that the last three major out-of-state payday lenders had agreed to stop making illegal loans in North Carolina. As a result, working families in the state will save almost $100 million each year -- money they can use to buy food, pay their bills, and balance their family budget. Payday lenders make small loans...

Download the Report The Best Value in the Subprime Market: State Predatory Lending Reforms (PDF 432kb) A study by the Center for Responsible Lending proves that laws against predatory lending thwart abusive lenders while in many cases increasing availability of credit for people who need it most. "The Best Value in the Subprime Market: State Predatory Lending Reforms" is the...

Download the Report The Best Value in the Subprime Market: State Predatory Lending Reforms (PDF 432kb) A study by the Center for Responsible Lending proves that laws against predatory lending thwart abusive lenders while in many cases increasing availability of credit for people who need it most. "The Best Value in the Subprime Market: State Predatory Lending Reforms" is the...

Augusta, ME - Predatory lending practices cost Mainers at least $23 million a year, say Coastal Enterprises Inc. and the Center for Responsible Lending in the first comprehensive study of predatory lending in Maine. These predatory practices endanger the homes and financial security of some of Maine's most vulnerable citizens. Based on the findings of the report, approximately 1,000 families...

A report by the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions -- which found car title lenders illegally charging rates as high as 360% APR -- shows that the states need to protect borrowers from this predatory business, says the Center for Responsible Lending. Title lenders, who make small loans at extremely high interest rates to people who put up their cars...

The Center for Responsible Lending applauds a $325 million settlement between a team of state attorneys general and Ameriquest Mortgage Co. to end abusive lending practices. Today's agreement shows that states play a key role in fighting predatory lending, said Deborah Goldstein, executive vice president of the center, a non-profit research and advocacy group. "The states are quicker to identify...

RALEIGH, NC -- The Center for Responsible Lending endorsed a tough ruling today by the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks that the "rent-a-bank" arrangement payday lender Advance America used to operate in the state is illegal. While Commissioner Joseph A. Smith Jr.'s ruling applies only to Advance America, the Center for Responsible Lending hopes four other payday lenders using the...

State Officials, Others Caution Pending Ney-Kanjorski Bill Would Roll Back State Consumer Protections, Spur New Abuses WASHINGTON, D.C. -- State officials and other experts strongly cautioned today that a bill in Congress would weaken laws against predatory mortgage lending in New York, Illinois, South Carolina, and Arkansas and other states with major anti-predatory lending laws on their books. Those issuing...