Research

Rate Markups Cost Americans $25.8 Billion Over the Lives of Their Loans Download the Full Report (PDF) >> Download the Executive Summary (PDF) >> Rate Markup Volume Per State (Web Page) >> Costly Service The average dealer rate markup is $714 per loan. Learn what that may mean to a consumer's pocketbook. Cars are the most common nonfinancial assets held...

CRL joins mortgage bankers, Realtors, home builders and other housing groups in explaining how high down payments would make homeownership more expensive or out of reach for millions of American.

H.R. 1121 would threaten the ability of the newly-enacted Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to protect consumers from predatory and abusive financial practices. The bill, which would fundamentally change the structure of the CFPB from a single, accountable director to a weak five-person commission, would derail the consumer protections enacted under the Dodd-Frank act (P.L. 111-203). We urge Congress to...

Replacing CFPB Director with Commission and changing the funding structure would weaken the bureau's accountability and independence. S. 737 would threaten the independence of the newly-enacted Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and would harm the ability of the Bureau to properly protect consumers from predatory and abusive financial practices. The bill, which would remove the independent funding mechanism and fundamentally...

Ben Bernanke, Chairman Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System John Walsh, Acting Comptroller Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Sheila Bair, Chairman Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation John Bowman, Acting Director Office of Thrift Supervision Re: Withdrawal of Proposed Consent Orders Regarding Mortgage Servicing Illegalities Dear Federal Regulators of the Financial Institutions of the United States: The undersigned...

CRL joins civil rights groups in asking Congress to take a comprehensive approach to GSE reform that addresses lending disparities and underserved borrowers.

Read the full report (PDF) >> Read the executive summary (PDF) >> Payday Loans, Inc.: Short on Credit, Long on Debt dispels the notion that a payday loan is a short-term debt. Although marketed and advertised as a quick solution to an occasional financial shortfall, the actual experience of payday loan borrowers reveals there is nothing quick about the loan...

SB 1015 protects NC homeowners from a range of predatory practices. The law addresses three main issues: foreclosure rescue scams, abusive lease-option contracts, and abusive contract for deed/land installment sales. Foreclosure Rescue Scams The law cracks down on foreclosure rescue scams where the scammer takes title to the property without taking any responsibility for the mortgage. The law requires that...

SB 1216 has two major components. First, it continues the State Home Foreclosure Prevention Project (SHFPP) through May 31, 2013 and expands the program to cover all NC home loans not just subprime loans. Second, it modifies the points & fees trigger for determining if a mortgage is high-cost. State Home Foreclosure Prevention Project Continued & Expanded This law continues...

SB 974, SB 974, which had the strong support of Attorney General Roy Cooper, includes important new consumer protections in two distinct areas: Greater protections for homeowners during the foreclosure process; and greater protections for consumers against abusive debt buying activities. Foreclosure protections: This new law allows a clerk of court to continue (delay) a foreclosure hearing for up to...