Press Releases

Seniors Face Particular Risks Banks making payday loans continue to trap customers in a cycle of debt, a new study by the Center for Responsible Lending shows. Read the report, "Triple Digit Danger: Bank Payday Lending Persists," at http://responsiblelending.org/research-publication/triple-digit-danger. Banks pitch payday loans as short-term borrowing that allows customers to deal with a financial emergency, repay the loan, and move on. In fact, this new study provides further evidence that these triple-digit interest rate loans, averaging from 225% to 300% APR, trap borrowers in a long-term

Today CRL submitted the following letter to the editor of Bloomberg , publisher of Bloomberg Businessweek: The Bloomberg Businessweek Feb. 21 story on the recovery of the housing market, A Phoenix Housing Boom Forms, in Hint of U.S. Recovery, was factual and informative. The magazine cover highlighting this story was anything but. Instead, the cover perpetuates myths about the reasons for the last housing boom, and reinforces disparaging stereotypes about the people hurt most by the housing crash. Your cover completely distorts or ignores the following facts: People of color were targeted for

300 Percent Interest Makes Borrowers Pay Twice What They Receive in Credit Durham, N.C.--Car-title loans cost borrowers $3.6 billion in interest each year, more than twice the $1.6 billion in credit borrowed, a new report from the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and Consumer Federation of America (CFA) shows. For the full report, go to http://rspnsb.li/13ZMZ8V. "Driven to Disaster: Car-Title Lending and Its Impact on Consumers," provides the first national estimate of the size of the car-title loan market and details its potentially devastating impact on consumers. Car-title loans are

Advocates at the Consumer Federation of America, the National Consumer Law Center, the Center for Economic Justice, Consumer Watchdog, the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project and the Center for Responsible Lending strongly oppose the decision of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) – the federal regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – to halt Fannie Mae's recent efforts to reduce the cost of force-placed insurance (FPI) for taxpayers and borrowers by over $1 billion a year. Force-placed insurance is property insurance that mortgage servicers impose on

Today's announcement by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides a welcome and critically important national standard for discrimination in housing and housing lending. Fair housing is fundamental to every family's pursuit of the American Dream. By issuing this disparate impact rule, HUD reaffirmed the nation's commitment to fairness for all. CRL lauds the vigilance of the entire civil rights community for its long and hard-fought effort helping to make America's reality live up to its promises. For more information, contact Kathleen Day in DC at 202.349.1871 or kathleen

We're pleased that President Obama has re-nominated Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Under Director Cordray's leadership, the CFPB has struck an important balance between improving key consumer protections and preserving access to credit and financial services. Its work is benefitting American families, responsible lenders, and the overall economy. The CFPB should be allowed to continue this important work without the disruption of an unnecessary leadership change. For more information, contact Kathleen Day in DC at 202.349.1871 or kathleen.day

New rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will benefit millions of Americans by fixing several key problems that have plagued mortgage servicing. The rules establish basic standards such as requiring a timely application of monthly mortgage payments and a prompt correction of errors. The rules also restrict servicers from forcing borrowers into high-cost homeowners' insurance policies—a common, needless and deceptive practice. The rules also will help families save their homes from foreclosure. Protections from "dual tracking"—where servicers simultaneously pursue foreclosure and

Joint Press Release with the North Carolina Justice Center After a campaign by consumer advocates and state leaders, a bank dropped its harmful payday lending program in North Carolina. Payday loans have been illegal in North Carolina for more than a decade, but that hasn't stopped all payday lending. For the past year, Regions Bank has used federal banking law to offer payday loans that are illegal for any other lender to make in our state. These loans carried, on average, an annual percentage rate (APR) of 365%. Now, after significant pressure from consumer advocates and the state Attorney

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rules generally strike a balanced, reasonable approach to mortgage lending and implement important consumer protections. The standard CFPB establishes for a safe, well-underwritten mortgage is appropriately broad enough to include the vast majority of creditworthy home owners, and it is clear enough for lenders and borrowers alike to understand. And the rules preserve legal protection for borrowers with the riskiest loans. The rules—required by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010—address head-on a key cause of the mortgage meltdown and ensuing recession

Five United States Senators—Senators Richard Blumenthal, Sherrod Brown, Richard Durbin, Charles Schumer, and Tom Udall—have asked federal regulators http://rspnsb.li/UBdcq6 to stop banks from making predatory payday loans. The banks in question are making payday loans with triple-digit interest rates, essentially duplicating the storefront payday businesses that routinely trap lower-income borrowers in long-term harmful debt. In a letter dated January 2, the senators urged regulators to stop payday loans by banks immediately on the grounds that these loans pose safety and soundness risks. The