Press Releases

The House Financial Services Committee continues its assault on regulators that fulfill their responsibilities to address predatory, high-risk financial practices. Today the Committee attacked the FDIC for curbing banks' involvement in tax refund anticipation loans. These products carry interest rates as high as 500% APR, posing clear consumer protection concerns as well as safety and soundness risks to the handful...

Today, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) issued new rules to update the certification process for loans backed by the agency. All lenders making FHA-backed loans must certify that each loan has complied with the appropriate rules that serve to protect both consumers and taxpayers. Lenders who violate the rules could face the liability of having to forfeit FHA insurance and...

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...

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...

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...