Research

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...

On July 21, the CFPB will be a cop on the beat to enforce the laws on credit cards, mortgages, student loans, prepaid cards, and other kinds of financial products and services. This report from the Bureau summarizes in one place what they've been up to.

As federal regulators consider setting down-payment standards on new mortgages, this research shows such rules could push 60% of creditworthy borrowers into high-cost loans or out of the market altogether. A proposal by regulators to define a high-quality mortgage as one with at least a 10% or 20% down payment would hobble a healthy segment of the housing market. While...

Five years into the foreclosure crisis, borrowers across the country are still struggling with their mortgage payments, and are seeking out the help of housing counselors to help them manage their finances and guide them through the loan modification process. Between 2008 and 2011, the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program assisted nearly 1.2 million homeowners with foreclosure counseling, and provided...