Press Releases

DURHAM, N.C. – Nebraskans voted for Initiative 428 to stop triple-digit predatory lending by reducing annual interest rates from an average of over 400% to 36%. The initiative passed by an overwhelming majority of 83% of the vote. Nebraska joins Colorado (2018) and South Dakota (2016) in enacting this reform through a citizen’s initiative in recent years. Payday loans carry...

One-Third of U.S. Adults with a Credit Report Have Debt in Collection Washington, D.C. – The National Consumer Law Center, on behalf of its low income clients, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, Center for Responsible Lending, Consumer Federation of America, and the National Association of Consumer Advocates, expressed relief that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final debt collection rule...

CFPB Repeal Rule Will Leave Consumers at the Mercy of Payday Lenders’ Abuses WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB), represented by Public Citizen and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), sued the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking to overturn a regulation...

Bank regulator’s rule would facilitate triple-digit interest rate loans that violate state rate cap laws WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) yesterday issued a so-called "true lender" rule that would facilitate "rent-a-bank" schemes where a non-bank lender forms a superficial partnership with a bank in order to charge interest rates beyond what state laws...

OCC Overhaul of an Anti-redlining Law Will Perversely Encourage Redlining Washington, D.C. – A harmful new rule for the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) – an anti-redlining law – remains in place after the U.S. Senate yesterday voted against H.J. Res. 90, legislation that would have rescinded the regulation. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) finalized the rule...

Association for 208 of the Nation’s Largest Corporations Lauded for Call to Restore Major Tools for Eliminating Discrimination and Advancing Housing Equity WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the National Fair Housing Alliance and Center for Responsible Lending, two of the nation’s leading groups working for equitable lending, commended the Business Roundtable for supporting disparate impact and Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH)...

Especially Given National Reckoning on Racial Injustice and the Economic Crisis, FHFA Must Do More to Fulfill Affordable Housing Mission Washington, D.C. – As low-income homeowners struggle with bills and as millions of mortgage-ready people of color are excluded from sustainable homeownership, several leading civil rights, consumer, and housing groups yesterday submitted an official comment letter that calls for the...

Debt collectors too often lack sufficient documentation to prove ownership of debt Greater enforcement and stronger laws needed to protect California consumers OAKLAND, CALIF. – A new report released today by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) finds debt collectors in California may have seized more than $700 million from consumers between 2012 and 2017, even though they frequently lack...

Updated HEROES Act Deserves Immediate Consideration by U.S. Senate WASHINGTON, D.C. – This evening, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a new comprehensive COVID-19 aid package – an updated version of the HEROES Act. If the bill is also passed by the Senate and signed into law, it would allocate $2.2 trillion and improve the Paycheck Protection Program to better...

CFPB mission of protecting consumers remains extremely popular Voters concerned that federal COVID response favors Wall Street and big corporations WASHINGTON, DC - Ten years after Congress passed a major reform of Wall Street in response to the financial crisis, voters continue to overwhelmingly support more and tougher regulation of finance and they strongly approve of the mission of the...