Press Releases

Statement by CRL President Mike Calhoun "The House Appropriations Committee yesterday voted for a return to policies that allowed predatory financial products to plunder our economy. Clearly some lawmakers have forgotten the lesson of today's financial crisis, which continues at great cost to taxpayers, shareholders, retirees and, of course, tens of millions of families who have needlessly lost their homes or seen them plummet in value. Specifically, the committee voted to slash the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's budget and to subject the new agency to a politically charged funding

A diverse coalition of 44 consumer organizations, civil rights groups, lenders, real estate professionals and insurers joined with Members of Congress today urging regulators to make important changes to proposed mortgage lending regulations. The Coalition for Sensible Housing Policy released a joint white paper detailing how the proposed risk retention regulation, and the failure to properly define exemptions for Qualified Residential Mortgages (QRM), would significantly harm creditworthy borrowers while frustrating the nation's fragile housing recovery. The proposed QRM definition is part of

New guidelines proposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) illuminate the abuses in banks' overdraft and payday lending practices but don't go far enough to bring lenders back in line. As a result, the OCC's proposal risks legitimizing national banks' abusive payday lending and overdraft fee practices. The "safety and soundness" that the OCC holds as a high priority for banks goes hand in hand with prudent consumer safeguards. Banks risk damaging their reputation when they unfairly strip funds from customers. That hurts shareholders as well as families. The OCC should issue

Newly available data show CRL's initial research findings from earlier this year remain true: Since the Credit CARD Act of 2009 was passed, prices have become more transparent, with no constriction of credit and no increase in the interest rates consumers pay. See the update and original report: http://qa.crl.w.lmdagency.net/research-publication/credit-card-clarity. The updated information also provides fresh evidence that, prior to the CARD Act, pricing confused consumers, which is why the law was indeed needed. Transparency is important because competition works and markets function properly

A North Carolina bill that would significantly increase the interest rates of loans made by consumer finance companies like CitiFinancial and American General narrowly passed the House of Representatives yesterday evening by a vote of 61-54. The vote on House Bill 810 came despite a broad coalition opposing the effort to raise interest rates on consumer loans that included North Carolina military base commanders, the state's Governor and Attorney General, consumer groups and civil rights leaders across the state. This bill was passed even though three study commissions in four years --

Kenneth W. Edwards, Policy Counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending, presented the following remarks at a press briefing held to discuss the impact of the proposed Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) rule on consumers. Other groups participating in the conference were the Mortgage Bankers Association, Consumer Federation of America, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, and the National Housing Conference. Good morning, I'm Ken Edwards, Policy Counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and policy organization dedicated to protecting

Oakland, California Assembly members approved AB 1158 by an 45-14 vote today. The bill, authored by Asm. Charles Calderon (D-Montebello), would raise the payday loan amount limit from $300 to $500. Recent data from the Department of Corporations however, show that the average amount of a payday loan has actually dropped since 2009, indicating that the need for higher loans is simply not there. "This is a dangerous bill for Californians already struggling to make ends meet," said Paul Leonard, director of the California office of the Center for Responsible Lending. "Raising the amount that can

The latest National Delinquency Survey issued by the Mortgage Bankers Association for the first quarter shows late mortgage payments and foreclosure starts have been dropping since the end of 2009. However, when you view the bigger picture, the housing market remains shaky, with millions of homeowners still at risk of losing their home. One reason for recent improvements is that foreclosures have been delayed, not stopped, since many lenders have slowed action on delinquencies because of legal problems. As shown in this "Homes at Risk" chart, the longer view of mortgage performance reveals

By their votes today to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a majority of House Financial Services Committee members showed they care little about American's wallets or our nation's economic rebound. Instead, they voted to stack the rules in favor of the same lenders and regulators who brought us the subprime mortgage crisis and national financial meltdown. Lawmakers could have voted to protect consumers from abusive financial products and practices, but most did not. Instead, they sided with industry-driven moves to hamstring CFPB even before it opens its doors in July

Our nation's economic upheaval is ending slowly, but some lawmakers have forgotten its lessons quickly—witness the vote today to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and other experts place much of the blame for the calamity on federal regulators who failed to protect our banking system and consumers, permitting abusive financial products and practices to dominate the market. Now, even though the CFPB won't be implemented until July 2011, some lawmakers already are trying to severely