Press Releases

In a speech delivered at Georgia Tech yesterday, President Obama discussed his plans to implement more robust consumer protection for student loan borrowers. Shortly before his address, the president signed a Memorandum directing the Department of Education and other federal agencies to help students better manage their loans. Leslie Parrish, deputy director of research at the Center for Responsible Lending...

On Friday, the US Department of Education announced it will end contracts with five student loan debt collectors that collect federal student loan debts on behalf of the government. The Department found that the five companies had a pattern of providing incorrect information to borrowers about their rights to manage their loans and bring them out of default. The Department...

This week President Obama directed the Department of Labor to protect families from "conflicted" retirement counsel provided by financial advisors. The Department will kick off a rulemaking process requiring all retirement advisors to abide by a "fiduciary," or trust standard. Gary Kalman, Executive President for Federal Policy commented on the proposed action: When you walk into a bank to set...

Equifax, the consumer credit reporting agency, recently released a report that it said refutes evidence pointing to a growing "bubble" in the subprime auto lending market based on the fact that credit scores were higher for people with subprime auto loans than for people who do not have an auto loan, ignoring the significant concerns raised by recent Center for...

Voters from across the political spectrum are deeply concerned about payday lending including loans with interest rates that average 300 percent. Republicans, Democrats and Independents also feel strongly that payday and car title lenders should be required to follow the same kinds of responsible lending practices as banks and other for-profit lenders, according to a new, bipartisan national poll sponsored...

Update: On February 12, 2015, CRL president Mike Calhoun delivered testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; the hearing was entitled " Regulatory Relief for Community Banks and Credit Unions." (Includes video of the full hearing) In his testimony, Calhoun underlined that responsible regulations and regulatory oversight are critical to the success of small lenders...

Corinthian Colleges and ECMC Group, Inc., closed a deal to sell most of Corinthian's campuses to ECMC, a student loan debt collector. The sale brings mixed news for students: $480 million to forgive private student loan debts and the elimination of a troubling mandatory arbitration policy – but ECMC may ban class action lawsuits, and many federal loan borrowers get...

In response to the President's speech tonight, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) has experts available to comment on areas mentioned in the State of the Union address including, mortgage access, student lending and the importance of new rules to rein in reckless practices in the financial sector. Strong Financial and Consumer Protections "With the President's promise to veto legislation...

President Obama is slated to discuss housing recovery and related policies on Thursday, January 8, 2015 from Central High School in Phoenix, Arizona. The Center for Responsible Lending has long been a research and policy leader on housing and mortgage policies. CRL has researched issues including access to credit, abusive mortgage lending practices, discrimination in markets, and family wealth-building. As...

On Thursday, January 8, 2015, President Obama will formally announce plans in Phoenix, AZ to reduce the cost of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration – a government agency that secures mortgages primarily for lower and moderate-income borrowers, especially families of color. The plans will: reduce FHA premiums to help make mortgages more affordable; build on successful policies that...