Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Seventeen consumer and civil rights advocacy groups sent a letter today to investor and auto dealer, Warren Buffett, urging him to help end discriminatory auto lending practices in this country. In 2014, Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway purchased the largest privately-held auto dealership group in the nation, the Van Tuyl Group. The civil rights and consumer groups, which...

Missouri Attorney General should move to prohibit suing, collecting, or attempting to collect zombie debts. Jefferson City, MO – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) submitted to the Missouri Attorney General, comments to strengthen proposed reforms aimed to curb predatory debt-collection practices. In its comment, CRL submitted background on debt-collection abuses and provided recommendations to prevent the unfair collection of...

The CFPB took steps yesterday that underscore the barrier high-cost overdraft programs pose to many consumers, noting that they can lose their bank account as a result excessive fees. The Bureau urged banks to offer and encourage use of accounts with no overdraft fees, noting that while some banks already offer such accounts, many do not. Rachel Anderson, Director of...

In the first week of this year’s Black History Month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it has reached a settlement with Toyota Motor Credit, which will result in the finance company paying up to $21.9 million in restitution to affected borrowers. Toyota Motor Credit’s past practices resulted in thousands of borrowers of color paying higher interest rates...

Consumer Advocates Question High Charge-Offs, 200% Interest Rates, and Borrowers’ Ability to Pay Consumer advocates criticized the high interest rates and high charge-offs of Elevate Credit, Inc. (Elevate), the online lender scheduled for the first tech initial public offering of 2016. "Elevate's loans have an average APR of nearly 200%, and a huge number of its borrowers default on their...

With the right rules in place, predatory lending can be reined in and abuses can be curbed even in the Internet era, according to a policy brief from the Center for Responsible Lending. The study, which looks at the effect of enforcement of state and federal laws, belies the industry’s claim that there are no rules that can stop predatory...

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1210. The bill would exempt the nation’s largest banks from rules put in place in response to the economic crisis. Specifically, the bill would give legal protections to any bank that holds any mortgage loan in its portfolio. The bank would receive the legal protections even if it ignored certain best practice...

Bill Creates Obstacles to Enforcing Fair Lending Laws The U.S. House of Representatives voted last night to pass H.R. 1737, the Reforming CFPB Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Act. The bill requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to rescind its warning to lenders who provide auto loans through dealerships that certain practices risk violating fair lending laws. Auto dealers have discretion...

A key mortgage lending reform – which would be rolled back by a bill coming up for a vote in the House of Representatives next week – commands the support of an overwhelming majority of voters, according to a poll conducted this summer by Lake Research on behalf of Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending. New...

A new policy brief from the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) shows that most consumers would pay lower interest rates if car dealers stopped getting paid through increases in the interest rate. According to industry data, as many as 70% of borrowers would pay a lower interest rate if the car lending industry shifted to a flat fee compensation model...