Proposed Borrower Defense Rule Shortchanges Defrauded Students, Ends Accountability for For-Profit Colleges

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Education released a draft proposal to overhaul the Obama Administration’s Borrower Defense to Repayment rule. The revision would alter how students secure loan forgiveness when institutions fail to deliver promised requisite skills and knowledge. Under the new proposal, student borrowers would qualify for corrective action only when they could document institutional misrepresentations...

Aim Higher Act Tackles Transparency in Student Loan Debt Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Bobby Scott (Va.–03), Ranking Member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, introduced the Aim Higher Act, a bill to make higher education institutions—particularly for-profit colleges—more accountable and transparent to the public. The legislation also includes resources to boost college financial aid support programs for low-income students and improves the current loan repayment system...

Kathy Kraninger Unfit to be Top Consumer Watchdog, Senate Panel Should Deny Her Nomination for CFPB Director

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Kathy Kraninger, the current Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Associate Director and President Donald Trump’s nominee for Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), is scheduled to have her nomination hearing tomorrow before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Prior to her role at OMB, Kraninger's experience in the federal government has...

Servicer Great Lakes Set To Evade CA Student Loan Protection Law

OAKLAND, CALIF. - Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., one of the country’s largest student loan servicers that was acquired by NelNet Inc. last February, has signaled to the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) that it will not comply with that state’s Student Loan Servicing Act of 2016. The law requires that in order for a servicer to operate...

Statement on U.S. Supreme Court Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On July 9, 2018, Brett Kavanaugh, a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was nominated to be the next associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2016, Kavanaugh authored an opinion for a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit considering...

CRL Statement on Leandra English

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Senior Legislative Counsel Yana Miles released the following statement today regarding Leandra English's decision to step down as Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): "Leandra English is a revered public servant with a history of prioritizing consumer protection. Throughout her tenure at the CFPB, even before becoming Acting Director...

CRL: State Law Helps California's Becerra to Protect Student Borrowers

OAKLAND, CA – Yesterday, California Attorney General (AG) Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit against Navient Corporation, the nation's largest student loan servicer and its subsidiaries for violations of the state's Unfair Competition and False Advertising Law. Approximately 1.5 million student loan borrowers in California could be affected by the litigation. Specifically, the lawsuit charges that Navient: Steers vulnerable borrowers toward...

State Attorneys General Rightly Urge Defeat of Congressional Bills That Would Preempt State Consumer Protections

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A bipartisan coalition of Attorneys General from 19 states plus D.C. asserted their states’ authority to protect consumers from financial abuse yesterday in a letter opposing two bills being considered in Congress that would allow lenders to sidestep state consumer protection laws. HR 3299 and HR 4439 would override state interest rate caps by authorizing sham relationships...

White House Proposal Would Worsen Affordable Housing Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Office of Management and Budget released a report entitled, “Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century: Reform Plan and Reorganization Recommendations.” This 132-page document details an unprecedented and broad reorganization across many federal agencies. The proposal also addresses the future of mortgage finance, specifically how two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...

Judge is Wrong to Rule Against CFPB’s Existence and to Side with Company Sued for Scamming 9/11 Heroes

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, a federal district court judge in New York wrongly sided with RD Legal, a company that was sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for scamming 9/11 first responders out of millions of dollars in compensation funds. The judge claimed that the CFPB is unconstitutionally structured and should not be in existence. The impact of...