Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Mich.) and Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) introduced the Stopping Abuse and Fraud in Electronic (SAFE) Lending Act, a bill to crack down on some of the worst abusive practices of the payday lending industry, which strips wealth from working families across the country. The bill, which underscores the importance of state usury limits in controlling predatory lending, is cosponsored by various members of the House and Senate. "Payday lenders will go to great lengths to trap struggling families in an

Agency’s Independence Is Necessary to Its Mission, Groups Tell Court Considering Appeal in English v. Trump and Mulvaney WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) independence from external political influence is crucial to the agency’s mission of protecting consumers, ten groups told a court today in an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The groups are the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), Americans for Financial Reform, Consumer Action, National Association of Consumer Advocates, National Consumer Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Reuters, citing multiple sources, published an article saying that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), currently led by unlawfully appointed Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, has pulled back on its investigation of Equifax’s massive data breach. Yana Miles, Senior Legislative Counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), issued the following statement: If this report is true, then some 145 million Americans deserve an explanation from Mick Mulvaney. National credit bureaus have immense power over our financial lives. The credit consumers have access

CRL Alarmed by Mick Mulvaney Removing Enforcement Powers from Consumer Bureau’s Fair Lending Office WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) condemned an alarming move by the unlawfully appointed Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Mick Mulvaney, which will have the practical effect of taking away the ability of the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity to enforce laws against discrimination. By weakening this office, Mulvaney is making it easier for financial companies to commit and get away with unlawful discriminatory acts

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, a leaked version of a housing finance proposal from U.S. Senators Bob Corker (TN) and Mark Warner (VA) emerged that would severely harm America’s housing market. Today, several civil rights and affordable housing groups issued a statement on the proposal’s negative impact on access, affordability, and market stability. The Center for Responsible Lending, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP, National CAPACD, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, National Fair Housing Alliance, National Urban

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided in PHH Corporation v. CFPB that the President can only remove the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for cause instead of at will. The decision invalidates a 2016 court panel’s previous and unprecedented 2-1 ruling where two judges agreed that the CFPB Director can be removed at will instead of for cause. Center for Responsible Lending Senior Policy Counsel Melissa Stegman released the following statement: Today's decision by the D.C. Circuit is a victory for families

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During the State of the Union address, the President said, “we have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in history.” If you wish to see this deregulation he is touting in action, look to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Unlawfully appointed CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney is systematically weakening vital consumer protections. Yana Miles, Senior Legislative Counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), issued the following statement: Mick Mulvaney is making it easier for predatory lenders to pick the pocketbooks of

Unlawfully Appointed Acting Director Mulvaney Wants CFPB to Use Emergency Funds Instead, Signaling Latest Chapter in Campaign to Dismantle the Consumer Bureau WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Mick Mulvaney sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen that “for Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2018, the Bureau is requesting $0.” Mulvaney wants to instead deplete the reserve fund. Also this week, Mulvaney initiated a public review to critique the CFPB, reopened a CFPB rule intended to stop payday loan debt traps, and without explanation, the CFPB dropped a case against a payday lender accused of

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, who was unlawfully appointed to also be Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), announced that the CFPB would reopen its rule on payday and car-title loans. This is Mulvaney’s first formal step toward trying to eliminate planned CFPB protections against the payday loan debt trap. Rebecca Borné, Senior Policy Counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) issued the following statement: The human devastation caused by payday loans, which average nearly 400 percent APR, has been extensively documented. For more

WASHINGTON, D.C. - From January 8-11, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) hosted the second of three negotiated rulemaking sessions on its Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule. The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and other advocates are working with DOE officials to strike an agreement to protect students defrauded by their schools. “We remain concerned that the outcome of this process will be a rule that further insulates bad institutional actors from accountability and effectively denies relief to many defrauded students,” said CRL Counsel Ashley Harrington, who is currently one of the