Press Releases

Restoring the US housing market is critical to our nation's economic recovery. That is why we are disappointed with the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) announcement today that it will not permit targeted forgiveness of loan principal balances for struggling homeowners. This decision means that principal reductions are not an option for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans even when...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Financial reforms enacted in response the financial meltdown remain popular with Americans likely to vote in 2012, a new opinion poll by Lake Research Partners shows. The poll was commissioned by AARP, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). Saturday (July 21, 2012) marks the...

The recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) process reveals serious flaws that threaten to undermine the program's success. The IFR is intended to compensate borrowers for mistakes their mortgage servicers made in the foreclosure process. The report critiques the public outreach that has been conducted for the IFR, under which federal banking regulators have...

Today's Department of Justice fair lending settlement with Wells Fargo Bank is welcome news, and highlights the benefits of new mortgage rules to combat predatory lending. The DOJ settlement of $175 million settles charges that Wells Fargo steered about 4,000 African-American and Hispanic families into higher-cost subprime mortgages while white borrowers with similar qualifications received safer, cheaper prime loans. DOJ...

Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law the California Foreclosure Reduction Act today inLos Angeles. The bills, AB 278 and SB 900, are designed to reduce unnecessary foreclosures in the state and were critical pieces of Attorney General Kamala Harris' Homeowner Bill of Rights. "These common-sense protections have had an uphill battle to the governor's desk," said Paul Leonard, California Director...

Both houses of the California Legislature today approved the Foreclosure Reduction Act, a bill designed to reduce unnecessary foreclosures in the state. The bill is the centerpiece legislation of Attorney General Kamala Harris' Homeowner Bill of Rights. "This is monumental," said CRL California Director Paul Leonard. "For the past three years, the legislature has said 'no' to making the foreclosure...

Legislation Will Level the Playing Field for Borrowers Across California, and Ensure That All Borrowers Get Full and Fair Consideration for Loan Modifications Six weeks of negotiations between banks, the bipartisan legislative conference committee, the Attorney General and consumer groups have produced a Homeowner Bill of Rights that deserves to pass both floors of the Legislature and be signed by...

A housing bill introduced in the Senate could more than double the number of homeowners who refinance under a federal mortgage program and also more than double their potential savings, according to an estimate by researchers at Columbia University. To be eligible, homeowners must have a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and be current on the payments...

More than 80 percent of California homeowners who received modifications in 2010 stayed current and avoided re-default despite the continued recession, according to a new Center for Responsible Lending analysis. These new data indicate that the Homeowner Bill of Rights is critical for large numbers of borrowers, their communities and the overall California housing market. The legislation, which has undergone...

The remedies are deeply inadequate in fundamental ways. The money will too often be too little too late, particularly for borrowers who were wrongfully denied loan modifications. The federal bank regulators continue to withhold too many details from the public, when transparency would be to everyone's benefit. Further, the Sept. 31 st deadline to apply for compensation for borrowers who...