Research

New data from the bipartisan polling team Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting shows that voters across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support the ongoing mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to regulate the financial industry and protect consumers. The survey also revealed strong support for maintaining the secure, independent funding mechanism for the CFPB. These new findings...

Consumers are increasingly accessing small short-term loans through digital cash advance and Earned Wage Advance (EWA) online applications. Consumers can receive advance amounts up to $750 per pay period while using these apps. Some companies contract with employers to provide this product while others work directly with consumers. In the direct-to-consumer model, the advances are often marketed as “free,” but...

Millions of Americans continue to experience financial precarity, and this report illustrates how payday and car-title lending extract financial resources from communities across the United States.

Payday lenders charge exorbitant fees to borrowers without assessing their ability to repay, and the annual interest rates on these loans are in the triple digits.

Cash-strapped borrowers are being enticed into using the home equity they have accumulated as an ATM and cash-out refinance loans will damage their long-term financial health.

Payday loans, high-cost small loans averaging $350 that usually must be repaid in a single payment after two weeks, are designed to create a long-term debt trap for consumers. A 36% annual percentage rate (APR) cap on payday loans (including fees) is the best way to stop the cycle of debt. To date, 20 states and the District of Columbia...

Previous research by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) has revealed the harms associated with high-cost installment loans, which are often marketed to subprime borrowers and have annual percentage rates of interest (APRs) in excess of 36%. This paper explores a different segment of the installment loan market: loans made by consumer finance companies with rates at or below 36%...

New data from the bipartisan polling team Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consultingi shows that voters across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support the ongoing mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to regulate the financial industry and protect consumers. The new findings are consistent with over 10 years of opinion research demonstrating strong public support for the agency’s...

As of the end of August 2022, 350,000 FHA borrowers were seriously delinquent. Some of these borrowers will regain their financial footing, cure their delinquency, and resume their monthly payments, while others will sell their homes. The remainder will need a reduction in their monthly payment to an affordable level to remain in their home. However, the combination of the...

More than 44 million people in the United States—roughly one in six adults—collectively hold more than $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt. Although many Americans are burdened by their student loan debt, borrowers who attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been especially hard hit, due to the impacts of systemic racism on wealth accumulation for families and...