House Passes Rent-A-Bank Scheme Legislation Despite Opposition Over Bill’s Predatory Lending Problem

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 3299, the so called “Madden fix” bill which would preempt state interest rate caps and open the flood gates to online predatory lending of 300% APR and higher loans. The bill passed despite not having support from consumer advocates. Several Members of Congress took to the floor...

Merkley, Bonamici, Cummings Introduce SAFE Lending Act To Help Protect Families Against Abusive Payday Lending Practices

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Mich.) and Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) introduced the Stopping Abuse and Fraud in Electronic (SAFE) Lending Act, a bill to crack down on some of the worst abusive practices of the payday lending industry, which strips wealth from working families across the country. The bill, which...

Consumer Advocates’ Amicus Brief Argues Crucial Public Interest in Independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Agency’s Independence Is Necessary to Its Mission, Groups Tell Court Considering Appeal in English v. Trump and Mulvaney WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) independence from external political influence is crucial to the agency’s mission of protecting consumers, ten groups told a court today in an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for...

Trump Appointee Move Invites Lending Discrimination

CRL Alarmed by Mick Mulvaney Removing Enforcement Powers from Consumer Bureau’s Fair Lending Office WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) condemned an alarming move by the unlawfully appointed Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Mick Mulvaney, which will have the practical effect of taking away the ability of the Office of Fair Lending...

Report that Mulvaney Pulled Back on CFPB’s Equifax Investigation is Alarming

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Reuters, citing multiple sources, published an article saying that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), currently led by unlawfully appointed Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, has pulled back on its investigation of Equifax’s massive data breach. Yana Miles, Senior Legislative Counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), issued the following statement: If this report is true...

Senate Housing Finance Proposal Threatens Access, Affordability, and Market Stability

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, a leaked version of a housing finance proposal from U.S. Senators Bob Corker (TN) and Mark Warner (VA) emerged that would severely harm America’s housing market. Today, several civil rights and affordable housing groups issued a statement on the proposal’s negative impact on access, affordability, and market stability. The Center for Responsible Lending, Lawyers’ Committee...

D.C. Circuit Is Right To Keep CFPB Single Director Structure Intact

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided in PHH Corporation v. CFPB that the President can only remove the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for cause instead of at will. The decision invalidates a 2016 court panel’s previous and unprecedented 2-1 ruling where two judges agreed that the...

President Trump’s Deregulation in Action: Mulvaney Undermining Consumer Financial Protection

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During the State of the Union address, the President said, “we have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in history.” If you wish to see this deregulation he is touting in action, look to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Unlawfully appointed CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney is systematically weakening vital consumer protections...

Mulvaney Requests $0 in Funding for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Unlawfully Appointed Acting Director Mulvaney Wants CFPB to Use Emergency Funds Instead, Signaling Latest Chapter in Campaign to Dismantle the Consumer Bureau WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Mick Mulvaney sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen that “for Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2018, the Bureau is requesting $0.” Mulvaney wants to instead deplete the reserve fund. Also this...

Mulvaney Launches Plan to Kill CFPB Payday Rule

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, who was unlawfully appointed to also be Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), announced that the CFPB would reopen its rule on payday and car-title loans. This is Mulvaney’s first formal step toward trying to eliminate planned CFPB protections against the payday loan debt trap. Rebecca Borné, Senior Policy...