Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) released Treat Fannie and Freddie as Utilities, a report finding that the best model for regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs) outside of conservatorship is utility rate-of-return regulation. Under this type of regulation, the GSEs would pool risk nationally and offer broad access to affordable...

If approved by the President, the Obama-Era 2016 Borrower Defense rule would stay in effect and provide relief for students defrauded by for-profit colleges WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, through a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution, the U.S. Senate voted to invalidate U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ 2019 harmful Borrower Defense (BD) Rule, scheduled to go into effect this summer...

WASHINGTON, DC - On Friday, February 21, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a Supplemental Notice of Propose Rulemaking (Supplemental NPRM), that would provide a path for debt collectors to pursue time-barred debt. The rule supplements a proposed debt collection rule that the CFPB released in May 2019. As proposed, debt collectors could collect debt that is beyond statutes...

Widespread alarm at high-cost non-bank lenders funneling loans through banks to charge interest rates higher than state laws allow for non-bank lenders Concern over this deceptive practice was high across the political spectrum with concern expressed by 71% of Democrats, 64% of Republicans, and 63% of independents. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Voters across the country and political spectrum are concerned that...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Director of Federal Campaigns Graciela Aponte-Diaz testified before the full House Financial Services Committee for a hearing entitled: Rent-A-Bank Schemes and New Debt Traps: Assessing Efforts to Evade State Consumer Protections and Interest Rate Caps. CRL and other consumer and civil rights organizations have underscored their concerns about rent-a-bank schemes...

National Consumer Law Center and Center for Responsible Lending Experts to Testify in Rent-a-Bank Hearing before U.S. House Today at 10am ET Washington, D.C. – Eleven national consumer and civil-rights groups submitted a comment letter late yesterday to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) strongly opposing the federal banking regulator’s proposal, which risks green lighting triple-digit rent-a-bank schemes. -High-cost lenders...

Poll released as House Committee Chairwoman Waters backs bipartisan legislation to establish a national 36% interest rate cap WASHINGTON, D.C. – Voters across the country and across the political spectrum strongly support a 36% annual interest rate cap for both payday and consumer installment loans, according to a new poll commissioned by the nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, February 5, at approximately 10 a.m. ET, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Director of Federal Campaigns, Graciela Aponte-Diaz, and National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) Associate Director Lauren Saunders, will testify before the full House Financial Services Committee for a hearing entitled: Rent-A-Bank Schemes and New Debt Traps: Assessing Efforts to Evade State Consumer Protections...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Eric Stein, Senior Vice President at Self-Help, a community development lender and parent of the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), released the following statement after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced, in a letter to Members of Congress, that its forthcoming proposal will not rely solely on a loan’s debt-to-income ratio (DTI) in determining whether it...

Groups Strongly Oppose OCC Proposal that Would Bypass State Rate Caps to Allow High-Cost Predatory Loans Washington, D.C. – The Center for Responsible Lending, National Consumer Law Center, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP, National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, Americans for Financial Reform, Consumer Federation of America, Public Citizen, and U.S. PIRG, sent a strong message...