Press Releases

Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a survey which highlights that over one-in-four consumers contacted by a debt collection agency felt threatened. Additionally, the CFPB noted in their survey that one in seven consumers contacted about a debt during the previous year were sued in state court. About 75 percent of those sued do not go to the...

Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) lauded a group of U.S. Senate Banking Committee Democrats for calling on Wells Fargo Chief Executive Timothy Sloan to explain the recent boost in revenue from overdraft charges and whether the increase is connected to the bank’s practice of opening fraudulent accounts. In a letter, led by U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), ranking...

Research released earlier today by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finds that a growing number of consumers aged 60 or older are struggling financially to repay student loans. The majority of these loans were either co-signed or borrowed on behalf of younger family members. From 2005 to 2015, the number of senior citizens affected quadrupled from 700,000 to 2.8...

The California Supreme Court recently ruled against payday lenders who try to use tribal sovereignty to avoid state licensing and consumer protection laws. In 2007, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO)—then called the Department of Corporations—filed a suit alleging that private payday lenders such as Ameriloan and OneClickCash, each affiliated with the Miami Nation of Oklahoma or the Nebraska-based...

Two recent federal actions underscore the challenges many college graduates have getting licensed in their career fields because of inadequate higher education regulations. The Career Ready Student Veterans Act, passed on December 13, prevents the Veterans Administration from approving programs for GI Bill dollars if graduates are ineligible for licensure in licensed programs. And on Friday, the U.S. Department of...

Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) released research showing that in Colorado, companies that purchase bad debts and attempt to collect on them frequently pursue the wrong person, try to collect the wrong amount, or pursue a debt that is not owed. Debt buyers flood the courts with lawsuits, though they often do not have the documentation to ensure...

DeVry University, one of the nation's largest for-profit universities has agreed to a multi-million dollar lawsuit settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The case filed in January 2016 charged that at least since 2008, DeVry's deceptive marketing tactics deliberately sought to lure students into enrollment with false promises of job and income security upon graduation. Prospective students were told...

Targeting Borrowers of Color Only Widens the Racial Wealth Gap The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) published a new research report this week that shows payday loan stores in the state are disproportionately located in heavily African American and Latino neighborhoods (PDF). Combined, African Americans and Latinos make up almost 44% of the state's total population--and in those communities...

Innovation Should Not Come at the Expense of Consumer Protection, Evade State Anti-Predatory Lending Laws Today, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced its intention to offer national charters to financial technology firms, which could severely undermine state oversight and state consumer protection laws that protect consumers and small business owners from abusive financial products and practices...

Brown, Sherman Bill Would Prevent Wells Fargo from Using Forced Arbitration Clauses in Real Accounts to Block Customers from Suing over Fraudulent Ones The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) today applauded the introduction of the Justice for Victims of Fraud Act of 2016, a bill to give Wells Fargo customers who were victims of a fraudulent account opening scheme their...