Policy & Legislation

The COVID-19 crisis is having profound financial impacts on families across the country and on the economy overall. With businesses shuttered, and over 22 million unemployment claims filed in the first month of the crisis alone, it is hard to overstate the financial instability and hardship the crisis has produced. These impacts will worsen over time, as immediate income shortfalls...

The Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has failed to fairly serve businesses owned by people of color, causing spill-over harms throughout communities of color, states, and regions. Businesses owned by people color are a substantial source of income and employment—accounting for more than 8.7 million jobs at total annual payroll of $280 billion, and $1.3 trillion in revenue-yet...

H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act)—signed into law on March 27, 2020—offers important benefits for the public health crisis caused by COVID-19. However, the bill fails to provide substantive, comprehensive financial relief for vulnerable families who now face economic challenges, such as unemployment and reduced work hours, as a result of the crisis. It...

Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, US household debt was on the rise, reaching over $14 trillion. While much of this debt stems from mortgages, a growing amount stems from non-mortgage consumer debt, including student loans, medical debt, credit cards, installment loans, and auto loans. With the number of Americans facing unemployment, lost wages, and depleted savings due...

H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed into law on March 27, 2020, provided for a 6-month suspension and interest waiver on federally-owned student loans. It also halted all involuntary collections on these loans. These provisions only apply to Department of Education-held loans, excluding 1.9 million Perkins Loan borrowers, 5.98 million commercially held FFEL...

Housing accounts for almost 20% of our national economy. Disruptions in the housing sector will have a ripple effect across the economy. This crisis lays bare wealth and income inequality, including the racial wealth gap, that worsened in the last crisis and the structural flaws in our economy that produce this inequality. Actions must be taken now to protect financially...

Payday lenders see chaos and crisis as a profit opportunity—this pandemic is no different. In many states, payday lenders are working to be declared essential businesses so that they can continue to prey on families even as financial insecurity increases. However, these loans that trap people in a cycle of debt are never essential--and in a crisis they are even...

Even during the best economic times, overdraft fees are a tremendous drain on working families and often cause irreparable harm. The fees compound into hundreds per year for banks’ most financially distressed account holders and some even end up spending over a thousand dollars in overdraft fees. They drive people out of the banking system altogether, which disproportionately harms people...

CRL is working to monitor the unfolding developments of the COVID-19 pandemic and its financial and economic effects on LMI communities and communities of color. As the response to the crisis continues, CRL is advocating for strong consumer protections and financial relief for the consumers, workers and small businesses that are always among the hardest hit by any national emergency...

On March 26, 2020, five federal agencies (the OCC, FDIC, Federal Reserve, CFPB, and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)) issued brief joint guidance to “specifically encourage” financial institutions to offer “responsible small-dollar loans” to both consumers and small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis. This guidance contains troubling language that could be read to permit banks to make payday loans. Banks...