Press Releases

“A majority of Americans across all regions of the U.S. support permanently reducing student loan debt by $20,000 for all borrowers.” WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) released a bipartisan poll today showing that Americans around the country and across partisan identities strongly support student debt reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the poll indicates that a majority of adults support at least $20,000 in student debt reduction. Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting designed this

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a small business package that the U.S. Senate approved by unanimous consent earlier this week. The bill aims to replenish funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the loan program designed to help struggling small businesses hurt by the COVID-19 crisis. In the bill, lawmakers agreed to appropriate $310 billion to the PPP, which ran out of its initial funding capacity last week. Unfortunately, like the initial PPP funding, most of these new funds will continue to go to larger, wealthier and less diverse businesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate passed a deal today to replenish funding for the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP), the loan program designed to help small businesses slammed by the coronavirus crisis. Lawmakers agreed to send an additional $310 billion to the PPP, which ran out of its initial funding capacity last week. Like the initial PPP funding, most of these new funds will continue to go to larger, wealthier and less diverse businesses leaving smaller businesses of color excluded from the program unless changes are made. Center for Responsible Lending Federal Advocacy Director and Senior

Move Puts Communities of Color, Low- and Moderate-Income Families, and Rural Communities at Risk WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) yesterday issued a final rule that exempts more than 1,700 additional financial companies from reporting Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data about their lending. HMDA was enacted to combat lending discrimination by requiring companies to report public data on their mortgage lending, including information on borrower race and ethnicity. The reported information is a critical tool for researchers, advocates, and policymakers to

Oakland, CA – As people en masse are losing their jobs and income, creditors are taking from desperately needed stimulus checks in order to collect on debts. The Center for Responsible Lending today continued its call for state and federal officials to take immediate action to protect this emergency funding. Marisabel Torres, Center for Responsible Lending’s Director of California Policy, issued the following statement: The CARES Act stimulus checks are meant to help people meet basic needs like food, housing and medicine – not to pay off creditors. As it stands, a bank could take $1,000 in

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Small Business Administration announced that it exhausted its $350 billion funding capacity and is unable to accept new applications. Congress has not been able to agree on how to update the agency’s Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP), a provision of the CARES Act designed to provide forgivable loans to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the policy recommendations. (PDF) Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) President Mike Calhoun made the following statement: We urge lawmakers to agree on a deal that meets the several critical emergency needs

Banks should not embrace this terrible idea, especially as they are borrowing for free WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, under the cover of a national crisis, five federal bank regulators issued small dollar bank lending guidance that lacks the consumer protections needed to ensure loans do not trap borrowers in a cycle of debt. The guidance was issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve Board (FRB), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The guidance does not warn

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Director of Federal Advocacy Ashley Harrington released the following statement today ahead of a vote where the Senate is expected to approve its deal with the White House on a phase three spending bill to address the economic impact of the COVID-19 public health crisis: This bill falls short of providing full relief for hard-working families across the country, especially for LMI families and communities of color who are getting hit hard by this pandemic. In a time of crisis, taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be used to only bail out major

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the House Democratic Caucus introduced their COVID-19 stimulus package, Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act. Among the proposals, the bill includes provisions that support student loan debt cancellation and a halt on home foreclosures. Center for Responsible Lending Federal Advocacy Director and Senior Counsel Ashley Harrington released the following statement: This proposal is a great step toward providing families and workers much needed relief as the country continues to tackle the COVID

Instead, policymakers should incorporate as part of the stimulus package a federal rate cap and a ban on overdraft during crisis WASHINGTON, D.C. – As our nation tries to contain a growing pandemic and our economy heads toward a recession, reporting indicates that bank regulators might choose this moment to eliminate key safeguards that prevent exorbitantly priced, predatory loans. Meanwhile, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) have just introduced legislation to establish a 36% annual interest rate cap for new loans while not touching lower state rate caps. Center for