Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – At 3:00 p.m. ET this afternoon, a House Financial Services subcommittee will convene a hearing entitled “Ending Debt Traps in the Payday and Small Dollar Credit Industry. A live-stream of the hearing along with a full witness list and background information are available on the Committee’s website. Among those testifying is Diane Standaert, director of state policy and executive vice president at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), who issued the following statement: Payday loans are debt traps by design, carrying 300% APR on average. They perpetuate economic

Tomorrow (Tuesday) a House Financial Services subcommittee will hold a hearing on the bill, which would establish a bulwark to defend Americans from predatory lending, and also on the CFPB’s move to roll back consumer protections on payday loan Click here for this map, showing the APR of a typical payday loan in those states without strong interest rate caps. For example, the typical payday loan in Illinois has an APR of approximately 400%. WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) has announced support for legislation introduced today by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Senate confirmed Mark Calabria as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) –the federal regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – led by acting director Joseph Otting since early January. Calabria, who has served as chief economist for Vice President Mike Pence, was nominated to head the FHFA by the Trump Administration in December 2018. Nikitra Bailey, executive vice president with the Center for Responsible Lending made the following statement: As head of the FHFA, Mr. Calabria will have a critical role in shaping the U.S. housing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services held a full committee hearing entitled, “The Fair Housing Act: Reviewing Efforts to Eliminate Discrimination and Promote Opportunity in Housing.” The hearing examines fair housing laws, new online platforms in the housing market, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) enforcement of the landmark federal Fair Housing Act under the current Administration. Center for Responsible Lending Executive Vice President Nikitra Bailey released the following statement: As April marks the 51st anniversary of the

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Brookings Institution published a new research report by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) that explores how online programs from for-profit institutions negatively affect low-income students, particularly African Americans, veterans, and female heads of household. The report also addresses the trend of for-profit colleges going exclusively online or partnering with non-profit institutions to run their online programs. Read the report. Among the report's key findings: For-profits colleges enroll an outsized share of students that take only online courses

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) President Mike Calhoun testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for a hearing on “Chairman’s Housing Reform Outline: Part 2.” In his testimony, Calhoun discussed that any reform of the U.S. housing system must ensure access to safe and affordable mortgage loans for all creditworthy borrowers, including low-income borrowers and borrowers of color. Furthermore, any proposed legislation should provide equal treatment for small lenders, including community banks and credit unions that are often

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will testify before the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees, where she will need to explain her decision to drastically reduce funding for higher education programs, many that target low-income students, in the upcoming fiscal year. Today will be Secretary DeVos’ first time testifying before a Democratic-controlled House. On Thursday, she is scheduled to testify before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. The proposed Department of Education

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced the Preventing Risky Operations from Threatening the Education and Career Trajectories of (PROTECT) Students Act of 2019, a bill to protect higher education students by improving oversight and accountability of colleges and universities, particularly for-profit institutions. The bill would improve the 2014 Gainful Employment (GE) rule to ensure that graduates who attended for-profit institutions find good-paying jobs that will allow them to repay their federal student loans, and it would

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Donald Trump signed an executive order addressing free speech, transparency and accountability on campus, a move that comes after conservative groups claimed their voices being silenced at colleges and universities throughout the country. Aside from ensuring that colleges receiving federal research or education grants promote free speech, the order directs the Education Department to publish program-level outcomes data to the College Scorecard, and submit a report that includes policy recommendations to the White House on student loan risk-sharing, the

If consumer bureau delays payday rule, it would “inflict profound financial and psychological harm on consumers, particularly communities of color and those on a fixed income” WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, several national consumer and civil rights groups released their official comment letter, linked here, to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on its new leadership’s proposed delay of a 2017 rule the agency had issued to stop payday and car title loans from trapping consumers in debt. The letter rebuts the CFPB’s rationale for proposing a 15-month delay of the payday rule, which the