Research

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

The NCLC/CFA 2012 Refund Anticipation Loan Report Read the report >> Chi Chi Wu, National Consumer Law Center Contributing author: Jean Ann Fox, Consumer Federation of America ? Executive Summary Refund anticipation loans (RALs) are one to two week loans made by banks, facilitated by tax preparers, and secured by the taxpayer's expected tax refund. RALs can carry triple digit...

Some 250 advocates urged four federal regulators to end the predatory practice of bank payday lending on February 22, 2012. The CFPB, OCC, FDIC and Federal Reserve Board can and should stop Wells Fargo, US Bank, Fifth Third Bank and Regions Bank from trapping their customers in long-term debt at 400% annual interest. Maps, video, slides and the latest news...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the nation's first federal agency to focus solely on consumer financial issues, reached an important milestone. The agency's first report to Congress was delivered to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on January 31 by its recently-appointed Director, Richard Cordray. Speaking to the committee, Cordray said in part, "We plan to use all of the...