Press Releases

On April 17 the California Senate Banking and Financial Institutions voted 5 to 3 to defeat SB 515, a payday lending reform bill. "This is a stinging defeat for those who want our communities served by safe and responsible financial products. Despite offering compromise and the industry's own favored proposal of a larger loan amount, the Senate Banking Committee members...

What: The California State Senate Banking Committee will hear Senate Bill 515 on April 17th. The bill takes a dramatically different approach from previous efforts to reform payday lending by targeting the highly toxic aspects of these loans that cause the most damage to consumers – the debt trap. Borrowers take out consecutive 2-week loans—often multiple times—because they do not...

Two consumer advocacy groups today outlined how state lawmakers can bolster safeguards to prevent unnecessary foreclosures. The recommendations by the Center for Responsible Lending and Consumers Union would close gaps left by new federal mortgage servicing rules and by last year's settlement among 49 state attorneys general, federal officials and the five biggest mortgage servicers. To read the policy paper...

Dealers should not be allowed to impose higher interest rates than necessary on consumers Yesterday the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it would hold banks and other lenders liable for any auto loans in their portfolio that are discriminatory. We were encouraged by today's announcement and hope it is the first step toward eliminating unfair interest-rate markups by auto dealers...

Seniors Face Particular Risks Banks making payday loans continue to trap customers in a cycle of debt, a new study by the Center for Responsible Lending shows. Read the report, "Triple Digit Danger: Bank Payday Lending Persists," at http://responsiblelending.org/research-publication/triple-digit-danger. Banks pitch payday loans as short-term borrowing that allows customers to deal with a financial emergency, repay the loan, and move...

Today CRL submitted the following letter to the editor of Bloomberg , publisher of Bloomberg Businessweek: The Bloomberg Businessweek Feb. 21 story on the recovery of the housing market, A Phoenix Housing Boom Forms, in Hint of U.S. Recovery, was factual and informative. The magazine cover highlighting this story was anything but. Instead, the cover perpetuates myths about the reasons...

300 Percent Interest Makes Borrowers Pay Twice What They Receive in Credit Durham, N.C.--Car-title loans cost borrowers $3.6 billion in interest each year, more than twice the $1.6 billion in credit borrowed, a new report from the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and Consumer Federation of America (CFA) shows. For the full report, go to http://rspnsb.li/13ZMZ8V. "Driven to Disaster: Car-Title...

Advocates at the Consumer Federation of America, the National Consumer Law Center, the Center for Economic Justice, Consumer Watchdog, the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project and the Center for Responsible Lending strongly oppose the decision of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) – the federal regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – to halt Fannie Mae's recent efforts...

Today's announcement by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides a welcome and critically important national standard for discrimination in housing and housing lending. Fair housing is fundamental to every family's pursuit of the American Dream. By issuing this disparate impact rule, HUD reaffirmed the nation's commitment to fairness for all. CRL lauds the vigilance of the entire...

We're pleased that President Obama has re-nominated Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Under Director Cordray's leadership, the CFPB has struck an important balance between improving key consumer protections and preserving access to credit and financial services. Its work is benefitting American families, responsible lenders, and the overall economy. The CFPB should be allowed to continue...