Research

Read the full comment to the Federal Reserve CRL Comments On "Report to the Congress on Reductions of Consumer Credit Limits Based on Certain Information as to Experience or Transactions of the Consumer"[1] The Federal Reserve recently issued a report based on a survey of credit card issuers that asked whether they had taken adverse action on consumers' accounts based...

As the August 15th deadline nears for existing bank customers to opt in to high-cost overdraft programs, a new CRL analysis finds bankers use aggressive, often misleading marketing to target the most vulnerable customers.

Summary of Bill Full Session Law This legislation creates a program within the Commissioner of Banks' office designed to reduce the number of subprime foreclosures in North Carolina. The law requires that homeowners receive at least 45 days' notice before foreclosure proceedings begin, and gives the Commissioner of Banks (COB) the authority to extend the foreclosure process an additional 30...

A CRL analysis finds that payday lenders charge up to 572 percent APR for two-week loans at over 900 payday lending outlets in Mississippi. The typical borrower in that state pays an estimated $691 fees for a $350 payday loan repeatedly renewed, and still owes the principal. Overall, payday lending drains $270 million from Mississippi families every year. An exemption...

In recent years, a growing number of states have enacted interest rate caps and other protections to eliminate abusive payday lending practices that trap consumers in long term debt. Payday lenders repeatedly evade these rules, finding new ways to maintain business as usual and continue to offer short-term loans with triple-digit interest rates. The latest form of subterfuge is one...

Debt settlement is a rapidly growing industry in which companies advertise that they can eliminate consumer debt by negotiating reduced debt payoffs with a consumer's creditors, usually for unsecured debt such as credit card debt and medical bills. What's the Problem? Flawed model: The debt settlement model is an inherently flawed one, in that it requires consumers who are deep...

A brief by the National Consumer Law Center shows state-by-state markups on auto loan rates by race, revealing wide disparities between costs for African-American and white car buyers.

Read our report >> Our new research shows that the foreclosure crisis is not over, and runaway foreclosures continue to drain hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth from families, hitting communities of color the hardest. An estimated 2.5 million foreclosures were completed from 2007 – 2009, and an estimated 5.7 additional ones are imminent. An estimated 17% of Latino...

Louise Golden's backyard is a showplace. She planted everything with her own hands: crepe myrtle, pink peonies, azaleas, and roses of four colors. She and her husband, Stanley, bought the split-level house on Kepner Court in Lanham, Maryland, in 1980. She loved the place from the start, because of its roomy kitchen, and because of the possibilities she saw in...

The auto dealer lobby successfully fought to receive a special exemption in the House from the rules of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the financial reform bill even when the dealers act as creditors and brokers on car loans. But fair, honest and ethical competition requires a level playing field, as well as a fair and consistent system...