Strong Bipartisan Support for 36% Payday Lending Cap by South Dakota Voters Should Encourage Reform Across Nation

On November 8, 75% of South Dakota voters approved reducing the cost of payday loans from 574% to 36% annually. At the same time, a significant majority of South Dakotans rejected the payday lenders' proposal to allow permanent unlimited rates. The rate cap ballot measure approved by South Dakota voters will cap the annual interest rates at 36% for payday...

CRL Statement On Department Of Education's Action To Protect Students Against Misleading, Predatory Practices

Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced final regulations amending the Borrower Defense to Repayment provision of the Higher Education Act (HEA) to ensure that students and taxpayers do not have to bear the financial burdens that arise when predatory higher learning institutions make misrepresentations and fail to provide students with an adequate education. These kinds of bad practices severely...

Civil Rights Groups: Court Is Wrong To Weaken CFPB

If the PHH vs. CFPB Decision Stands It Would Undermine Consumer Protection Agency, Stifle Effort To Curb Predatory Lending Today, in a 2-1 ruling led by Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) enforcement order in PHH Corporation vs. CFPB. In its decision, the court...

California Lawmakers, Attorney General Are Right To Call On CFPB For Stronger Payday Lending Rule

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC) lauded California members of the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, California State Legislature, city and county officials, and California Attorney General Kamala Harris for sending official statements to the Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) calling on the agency to strengthen its proposed rule on payday and car title lending...

National Consumer and Civil Rights Organizations Make Final Push Urging CFPB to Strengthen Payday and Car Title Lending Rule, Close Harmful Loopholes

Rule Should Protect Families From Debt Traps, Close Off Paths to Evasion for Predatory Payday Lenders Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) (on behalf of its low income clients), with support from seven national consumer and civil rights organizations, is sending the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...

CFPB Rule On Prepaid Cards Will Benefit Families

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized their rule this week to make prepaid cards safer. The rule includes many important provisions, such as requiring that the Electronic Funds Transfer Act protections apply to error resolutions, lost cards, and unauthorized transactions, and the rule finalizes a new "Know Before You Owe" disclosures for prepaid accounts to give consumers clear, upfront...

Widowed Spouses, Bereaved Heirs Now Protected Under Homeowner Survivor Bill of Rights

New Law Helps Prevent Unnecessary Foreclosures Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) applauded California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. for signing into law SB 1150, the Homeowner Survivor Bill of Rights, a bill to protect widowed spouses and other heirs from unnecessary foreclosures. Through the legislation, when the sole borrower listed on a mortgage passes away, it entitles widows...

New HMDA Data Shows Mortgage Market Continues to Exclude Consumers of Color and Low-Wealth Families

Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) released a policy analysis based on new mortgage data collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The data, which covers nearly all mortgages made in the United States in 2015, revealed that access to mortgage credit remains out of reach for many consumers of color. Despite fair lending laws and mortgage rules...

TitleMax Deserves Fine for Abusive Practices

On September 26, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) levied a $9 million fine against TitleMax parent company TMX Finance LLC for failure to tell consumers the terms and costs of auto-title loans sold over a 5-year period, beginning in 2011. The lender was also charged with illegally exposing consumers' personal information to their employers and references. Offering auto-title and...