Research

During the course of negotiations, the Joint Conference Committee on Mortgage Foreclosures has substantially narrowed the scope of the bill and limited the protections to borrowers relative to the version of the bills that were before the Assembly and Senate Banking Committees earlier this year. Specific changes include: Narrower Scope of Coverage: the final bill includes a number of changes which narrow the loans and servicers that are covered by the bill, including Limits covered loans to first liens of owner-occupied, one-to-four unit principal residence mortgages. Previously, coverage...

The FDIC has promised to make investigation of bank payday lending a priority. In response to a letter submitted by 250 advocates, Acting Chairman Martin Gruenberg said the banking regulator is concerned that banks are violating guidelines for fair and affordable products. </p>

Good afternoon. The Center for Responsible Lending is a non-profit research and policy organization dedicated to protecting home-ownership and family wealth. Let's begin with the following premise: In terms of technology and hence core product costs, general purpose reloadable prepaid cards are indistinguishable from debit cards associated with checkless checking accounts. Both prepaid and debit cards must maintain a database of individual account records; both access the same payments system through a bank member of a funds transfer network such as Visa or MasterCard. Both prepaid and debit...

In 2001, the Coalition for Responsible Lending estimated that several common predatory mortgage practices cost U.S. borrowers $9.1 billion each year. For the most part, these practices were entirely legal under the law at that time. The report concludes that the solution is reforms to state and federal lending laws.

What hurts consumers financially also hurts business Watch report author and CRL Senior Researcher Josh Frank discuss the report findings. Read the full report >> Read the executive summary >> CRL research shows losses on credit cards in the current downturn rose faster at banks using unfair, deceptive practices. High-cost penalty fees and interest rates didn't mitigate risk—as credit card issuers claimed—but instead were the risk that pushed consumers into hardship and default. The same holds true for high-cost fees and interest banks charge for overdraft and payday loans. Reforms have ended...

California foreclosure statistics show record losses in recent years are likely to continue into the future On average, more than 500 California families have lost their homes every day since 4Q 2007, and the data show few signs of a return to the pre-crisis housing market. California foreclosure activity remains elevated, with more than 30,000 completed foreclosures each quarter, compared to less than 3,500 foreclosures in 3Q 2006. In addition, large numbers of California homeowners continue to fall behind in their payments, and would benefit from more effective policies to prevent avoidable...

Attorney General Kamala Harris is sponsoring a package of bills (the Homeowner Bill of Rights) designed to mitigate the foreclosure crisis and provide Californians with greater protections in the foreclosure process.

Download the Full Report (PDF) >> Read our Comments to the FTC on Yo-Yo Scams (PDF) >> View a Brief Presentation on the Report (Powerpoint)>&gt Learn How Yo-Yo Scams Work >> How Dealers Rig the Game Watch this video to learn more about yo-yo scams and the latest paper. Throughout 2011, the Federal Trade Commission convened a series of roundtables to explore abusive practices in the auto lending market. One abuse that received particular attention was the "yo-yo scam". The yo-yo scam occurs when a dealer leads the car buyer to believe that the financing is final. The dealer then lures the...

Using tax filing data, this fact sheet from the Urban Institute demonstrates dramatic behavioral differences among the banked and unbanked in their use of two at-times costly tax-time financial products, refund anticipation checks (RACs) and refund anticipation loans (RALs). Banked tax filers are much more likely to avoid such products. Even for those who are otherwise similar in income and background, the banked are 57 percent less likely to use a RAC and 83 percent less likely to use a RAL.

Forty-nine state attorneys generals and two government agencies have reached a $25 billion agreement with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses. Here we provide a quick-reference summary of the terms of this agreement. Background and additional resources