Press Releases

OAKLAND, CALIF. – Today, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in De La Torre v. CashCall, that high-interest rates on loans above $2,500 may be deemed unconscionable, and therefore illegal—even if those loans aren’t subject to statutory rate limits. The case involved plaintiff Eduardo De La Torre, a former student at the University of California Davis, who borrowed $2,600 from CashCall at an interest rate of 98% Annual Percentage Rate (APR). The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) co-authored an amicus brief urging the Court to rule that the high-rate of a loan

News arrives just days after CFPB found to be ending supervision of companies to ensure they’re not illegally overcharging military servicemembers WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, NPR reported that the White House is advocating for changes that would make it easier for auto dealers to fleece active duty military servicemembers. Specifically, the White House plan would let auto dealers pressure military customers into adding an overpriced gap insurance policy to their car loan. This would be a dramatic change to current rules under the Military Lending Act (MLA), a law that protects active duty

BREAKING: Illegally Overcharging Military Servicemembers to be Easier As CFPB to Stop Supervision of Lenders Center for Responsible Lending raises alarm that military families may be re-exposed to predatory lenders because of another move by Mick Mulvaney WASHINGTON, D.C. – This evening, the New York Times reports that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will no longer supervise financial institutions to ensure they are complying with the Military Lending Act (MLA), a law that protects active duty servicemembers from predatory financial practices. The MLA prevents servicemembers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced her plan to repeal the Gainful Employment (GE) rule which would hold career education institutions, especially for-profit colleges, accountable for their costs and actual student outcomes. The GE rule, which went into effect in 2014, was based on the simple, practical premise that a program should enable its students to earn enough money to pay back the debt required for its completion. Since 2017, the for-profit college industry has heavily lobbied the agency to rescind or weaken the GE rule as well as

Banks engage in unfair practices to drive up overdraft fees WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) released Unfair Market: The State of High-Cost Overdraft Practices in 2017, a report analyzing the overdraft fee revenue generated by banks and the overdraft practices of the 10 largest banks across the United States. According to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) data, banks with over $1 billion in assets collected more than $11.45 billion in overdraft and non-sufficient funds (NSF) in 2017. "These banks drain billions of dollars annually from their

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, U.S. Senators Corey Booker (D-N.J.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced the Stop Overdraft Profiteering Act to crack down on unfair overdraft fees. The bill would establish reasonable safeguards for checking account holders; restore transparency to the checking account market; and ultimately encourage banks to expand responsible small dollar loan offerings rather than perpetuate harmful overdraft fee practices. Abusive overdraft fees strip billions every year from the pockets of American families, often through practices designed to maximize overdraft revenue for

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Voters of all political parties overwhelmingly oppose the actions taken by Mick Mulvaney to undermine the mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and feel a strong connection between lax enforcement of the rules on Wall Street and their daily welfare, according to a new poll release by Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). Ten years after the 2008 financial crisis brought on a searing recession, the survey revealed enduring, strong, and bipartisan support for tougher regulation of Wall Street and predatory

Report Calls for Repeal of CFPB’s Payday Rule and Override of State Laws WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Treasury issued a new report calling for broad deregulation of nonbank lenders, including financial technology (fintech) firms. Specifically, the report endorses the repeal of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Payday Rule, the creation of special federal bank charters for fintech firms, regulatory “sandboxes” that exempt startups from certain consumer protection laws, and federal preemption of state consumer protection laws. These recommendations fly in the

DURHAM, N.C. – A new Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) report reveals financial distress among participants of Colorado focus groups who have taken out longer-term payday loans that are touted by payday lenders as a better, more affordable option than traditional short-term (often two-week) payday loans. Colorado banned short-term payday loans in 2010. Participants stuck in long-term payday loans described difficulty paying bills and faced aggressive debt collection. The hardest hit were those experiencing delinquency or default, which currently happens with one in four Colorado payday

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Education released a draft proposal to overhaul the Obama Administration’s Borrower Defense to Repayment rule. The revision would alter how students secure loan forgiveness when institutions fail to deliver promised requisite skills and knowledge. Under the new proposal, student borrowers would qualify for corrective action only when they could document institutional misrepresentations related to the program of study. Further, borrowers would be required to prove that institutional misrepresentations were made with knowledge, intent or a