Press Releases

During the annual State of the Union address, the President rightly called for housing finance reform that keeps the American Dream of homeownership alive for this and future generations. This Dream accounts for $10 trillion of our nation's economy and is a proven path towards upward mobility for millions of Americans. It is also why it is important to preserve the 30-year, fixed rate mortgage loan. While measurable market improvements are occurring, the recovery is not yet benefiting everyone. Any legislative reform needs to fix what is broken and build on what is working. Congress must

African Americans and Latinos pay higher interest rates on dealer-financed car loans than white buyers, even though people of color report more attempts to negotiate a better deal. According to a new report issued today by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), 39% of Latinos and 32% of African Americans reported attempts to negotiate their interest rate, compared to only 22% of white respondents—yet buyers of color received higher interest rates. The report, " Non-Negotiable: Negotiation Doesn't Help African Americans and Latinos on Dealer-Financed Car Loans," is based on information

Updated at 5:05 p.m. More good news: Wells Fargo Bank, US Bank and Fifth Third Bank announced today that they will discontinue their 225-300% annualized-interest-rate payday loan products. The announcements follow regulatory guidance finalized late last year by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which supervises Wells Fargo and US Bank, and by the FDIC. The guidance advises banks under those agencies' supervision to ensure they are not making small-dollar loans their customers cannot afford to repay. The Federal Reserve, which supervises Fifth Third, also issued a supervisory

Good news for consumers: This morning Regions Bank announced it is discontinuing its payday loan product—loans with triple-digit interest rates. Data have consistently shown that payday loans made by banks, like those made by payday stores, lead to a cycle of repeat loans, making a borrower's financial situation worse instead of better. Regions Bank is one of a handful of depository institutions that in recent years has veered into payday lending. In recent months, both federal and state regulators have increased scrutiny around all types of payday lending, whether by banks, storefronts or

With today's settlement with Ally Financial, Inc. and Ally Bank (Ally), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice took a major step to combat the longstanding problem of discrimination in car loans originated by automobile dealers. The practice that leads to this discrimination is auto loan "markups," when car dealers charge their customers higher rates than they qualify for. The dealer then retains some or all of the difference from the loan purchaser as compensation. During the past decade, these markups have been the subject of a number of lawsuits that found that

Today's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) enforcement action against CashCall marks a decisive strike in the ongoing crackdown on payday lenders' defective business model. The CFPB found that loan servicer CashCall's practices of collecting loans on behalf of online lender Western Sky were unfair, deceptive, and abusive. This action is another example of ongoing collaboration between federal and state law enforcement. In addition to the CFPB, both North Carolina and Colorado filed suit against CashCall; North Carolina also sued Western Sky. State consumer protections provided the

We commend the U.S. Senate for confirming Representative Mel Watt as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Representative Watt is eminently qualified to run this crucial agency based on his decades of experience as a real estate attorney and member of the House Financial Services Committee. He has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to work with a variety of stakeholders to craft practical and fair solutions. In his new post, he will apply these same qualities to help put the housing finance market on the right path. ### For more information, contact Ellen Schloemer at 919-539-9092

Good news for banking customers: Today the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) finalized guidance that effectively directs the banks they supervise to end abusive practices inherent in payday lending. This is a key step in recognizing the predatory nature of loans with triple-digit interest rates. The guidance also affirms the importance of requiring lenders to assess a borrower's ability to repay loans and establishes a clear limit on repeat loans. Although this guidance applies only to banks supervised by the FDIC and OCC, we

For many years, we have warned that payday loans are a defective product designed to trap consumers in debt. Today's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) enforcement action against Cash America—one of the largest payday lenders in the U.S.—shows multiple harms to consumers that go beyond the inherent abuses of the product.A remarkable array of activities led up to the CFPB action.First, Cash America restructured its loans to avoid Ohio's voter-approved 28% APR cap---a practice that is currently under review by the Ohio State Supreme Court. Then the CFPB investigation found that Cash

Debt settlement[ 1] programs too often are not the solution they are marketed to be, according to new CRL research. Debt settlement companies promote their programs as a way for debt-strapped consumers to become debt-free while paying a fraction of what they owe their creditors. However, CRL's new research report, A Roll of the Dice: Debt Settlement Still a Risky Strategy for Debt-Burdened Households, shows that debt settlement program participants may be left in a worse financial position than where they started and, furthermore, have no way to assess their likelihood of success before