Press Releases

The Department of Education announced today it would issue a strong proposed Cash Management rule. The rule would regulate the way colleges can enter into marketing agreements with banks and prepaid card issuers who wish to market to their student populations. It would ban overdraft and point-of-sale fees on some accounts - and require that all accounts be in the...

On May 14, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will hold a field hearing on student loan servicing and announce a formal Request for Information on the issue of student loan servicing, which may lead to a proposed student loan servicing rule. Center for Responsible Lending senior policy counsel Maura Dundon offers remarks on the consumer protection agency's announcement: Today, the...

On Monday, May 11, 2015, Mitria Wilson, CRL vice president for government affairs, joined a congressional forum examining how mainstream financial service providers were not fully meeting the needs of many in the middle class – and many who aspire to it – for basic banking services like check cashing services and small dollar loans. The panel explored how this...

This morning, the House Armed Services Committee voted on the National Defense Authorization Act. Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth introduced an amendment before the vote, stripping away provisions that delayed the Defense Department's recommended improvements to the Military Lending Act. Gary Kalman, executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending, offers remarks: The members of House Committee on Armed Services who...

According to a new Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) analysis, federal and state regulator investigations into debt buyers and debt collectors have revealed a widespread pattern of abuses prevalent within the industry that should be addressed by lawmakers. As a result of recent investigations, debt collectors have been forced to pay tens of millions of dollars in fines for multiple...

According to a new poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and released today by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), North Carolina voters overwhelmingly disapprove of predatory lending and a bill that would legalize some of the worst lending abuses. The poll shows that 93% of registered North Carolina voters oppose pending legislation, that would allow finance companies to charge...

A new report released today by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) finds a high percentage of payday loan borrowers experience a "visible" or "invisible" payday loan default while caught in the debt trap. The report finds that nearly half of all payday borrowers default within the first two years of their first loan; of the borrowers who default, nearly...

A new report by the Center for Responsible Lending finds that college-bank partnership checking accounts for students offer few benefits to the students who use them. Indeed, some students end up paying more in overdraft fees on these accounts per year than the average student pays for books per year. The student checking accounts studied in this report are those...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is offering a first look at where the agency's efforts to rein in the abusive practices of payday and car title lenders are headed. At a hearing in Richmond, VA, the consumer agency will release information outlining a proposed rule and take testimony from a panel of consumer and civil rights advocates as well as...

CRL president Mike Calhoun delivered the following testimony at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau field hearing on payday loans in Richmond, VA on March 26, 2015. Opening Remarks Thank you for the opportunity to participate on today's panel. This is a critical hearing for the millions of working families who are snared in the debt trap of unaffordable loans. The...