Press Releases

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...

Washington, D.C. — American families are turning to credit cards to make ends meet in an increasingly volatile economy, according to The Plastic Safety Net: The Reality Behind Credit Card Debt in America, a new report released today by Demos and the Center for Responsible Lending. Released just five days before the new bankruptcy law takes effect and effectively shuts...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Payday lenders rip off our soldiers, sailors and aviators for more than $80 million every year, says the Center for Responsible Lending. These military people -- young, financially unsophisticated, often strapped for cash -- are three times more likely than civilians to have used the payday lending stores that flock around the gates of military bases, according...

State and federal officials from four states warned today that a bill in Congress would weaken laws against predatory mortgage lending in 36 states, especially the 24 states with major anti-predatory lending laws on their books. The officials are U.S. Rep. Brad Miller (NC), New Mexico Chief Deputy Attorney General Stuart M. Bluestone, Massachusetts Rep. John F. Quinn (Dartmouth) and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Homebuyers may not realize that monthly payments on some types of specialty mortgages can increase by as much as 50 percent or more when the introductory period ends. That's one of the messages that the National Association of Realtors® and the Center for Responsible Lending are trying to drive home in "Shopping for a Mortgage? Do Your...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center for Responsible Lending joined today with 15 other groups in filing a brief supporting New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's efforts to enforce discrimination laws against national banks. Spitzer asked the banks to explain why the numbers the federal government requires them to make public each year show racial disparities in the banks' mortgage lending...