Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Eric Blankenstein, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s policy director for supervision, enforcement, and fair lending, has resigned following controversy over racist blog posts from 2004 in which he used racial slurs for African-Americans and claimed that most hate crimes reported by people of color were hoaxes. Center for Responsible Lending Executive Vice President Nikitra Bailey released...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) has announced support for legislation introduced today by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the Student Borrower Bankruptcy Relief Act of 2019. This bill would eliminate the section of the federal bankruptcy code that makes student loans nondischargeable. CRL Senior Policy Associate Cheye-Ann Corona issued the following statement: While many graduates strive to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Executive Vice President Nikitra Bailey spoke before the House Financial Services Committee’s subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance to testify on the urgent need to address racial discrimination within the nation’s housing finance system. The title of the hearing was called, “A Review of the State of and Barriers to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Kathy Kraninger, the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), announced a long-awaited proposed rule governing the $11.5 billion debt collection industry that includes 7,700 collection agencies nationwide. It is also an industry that ranks among those most reported complaints received by the CFPB and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). As announced, debt collectors would...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – At 3:00 p.m. ET this afternoon, a House Financial Services subcommittee will convene a hearing entitled “Ending Debt Traps in the Payday and Small Dollar Credit Industry. A live-stream of the hearing along with a full witness list and background information are available on the Committee’s website. Among those testifying is Diane Standaert, director of state policy...

Tomorrow (Tuesday) a House Financial Services subcommittee will hold a hearing on the bill, which would establish a bulwark to defend Americans from predatory lending, and also on the CFPB’s move to roll back consumer protections on payday loan Click here for this map, showing the APR of a typical payday loan in those states without strong interest rate caps...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Senate confirmed Mark Calabria as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) –the federal regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – led by acting director Joseph Otting since early January. Calabria, who has served as chief economist for Vice President Mike Pence, was nominated to head the FHFA by the Trump...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services held a full committee hearing entitled, “The Fair Housing Act: Reviewing Efforts to Eliminate Discrimination and Promote Opportunity in Housing.” The hearing examines fair housing laws, new online platforms in the housing market, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) enforcement of the landmark federal Fair Housing...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Brookings Institution published a new research report by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) that explores how online programs from for-profit institutions negatively affect low-income students, particularly African Americans, veterans, and female heads of household. The report also addresses the trend of for-profit colleges going exclusively online or partnering with non-profit institutions to run their...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) President Mike Calhoun testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for a hearing on “Chairman’s Housing Reform Outline: Part 2.” In his testimony, Calhoun discussed that any reform of the U.S. housing system must ensure access to safe and affordable mortgage loans for all creditworthy borrowers...