Homeownership, COVID-19, and Increasing Access to Black and Latino Borrowers with Opening Remarks by FHFA Director Mark Calabria

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 2:00 p.m. ET/ 11:00 a.m. PT, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) will host a virtual panel of housing experts to discuss how the COVID crisis has impacted housing. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mark Calabria will share the agency’s response to the current public health crisis, followed by a panel...

Advocates Say FHFA’s Delay of Fannie & Freddie Mortgage Refinancing Fee is a Necessary Yet Utterly Insufficient Step for Struggling Homeowners

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced yesterday that a fee from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which FHFA previously approved and which makes refinancing more expensive for mortgages backed by those companies, will be delayed until December 1. FHFA also said the fee will not apply to refinance loans with balances below $125,000. The fee is...

Joint Statement from Housing, Financial Services, and Public Interest Groups on GSEs’ Adverse Market Fee

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A broad coalition of organizations representing the housing, financial services industries as well as public interest groups issued the following statement on the GSEs’ new adverse market fee: Wednesday night’s surprise announcement by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) conflicts with the Administration’s recent executive actions urging federal agencies to take all measures within their authority...

Trump Administration’s Executive Orders Fail to Address Deep Economic Distress

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Trump Administration issued four executive orders Saturday related to the COVID-19 pandemic that fail to recognize and adequately address the magnitude of the ongoing crisis and the need for massive reform. The orders are weak and inadequate, and they leave out millions who are struggling to survive in grim circumstances. We need comprehensive legislation that rises...

In Comment to CFPB, Consumer and Civil Rights Organizations Urge Agency to Ban Collection of Time-Barred Debt

WASHINGTON, DC – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP, National CAPACD, and UnidosUS  submitted a joint comment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in response to the agency’s Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Supplemental NPRM) that fails to protect consumers against stale, time-barred “zombie” debt, for which the statute of limitations has...

Amicus Brief Opposes OCC Charter That Would Aid Predatory Lenders

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Center for Responsible Lending, National Consumer Law Center, and National Community Reinvestment Coalition filed an amicus brief in Lacewell v. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), in support of the plaintiff, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), against the OCC’s plan to issue “special purpose national bank” charters to nonbank lenders...

CRL Lauds State Attorneys General For Challenging OCC Rule That Encourages Abusive Rent-A-Bank Lending Schemes

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, State Attorneys General from California, Illinois, and New York filed a lawsuit challenging the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) recently announced final rule that encourages online nonbank lenders to launder their loans through banks so they can offer high-cost triple-digit loans in states where such loans are illegal. The rule was strongly opposed...

Banking and Consumer Groups Call on Congress to Close ILC Loophole

Washington, D.C. — The Bank Policy Institute (BPI), Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) today urged Congress to impose a three-year moratorium on industrial loan company licensing applications. The moratorium on Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation approvals would provide Congress time to close the ILC loophole and ensure ILCs and their parent companies don’t pose...

President Trump’s Unconstitutional Decision to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants from Census Count

WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week, President Trump issued an unconstitutional memorandum barring undocumented immigrants from being counted in the Census when lawmakers redraw Congressional Districts next year. Center for Responsible Lending President Mike Calhoun released the following statement: This unconstitutional memorandum is effectively robbing immigrants of their humanity, agency, and dignity as contributing and integral members of American society and...