Research

Congressman Miller, Congressman Watt, and Chairman Frank introduced the "Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007" on October 22, 2007. The proposed legislation addresses many abusive lending practices that contributed to today's foreclosure crisis, including reckless underwriting practices, subprime prepayment penalties, and yield-spread premiums. However, it is critical that the details of remedy and enforcement provisions are strengthened in...

Federal Reserve System's Fifth Community Affairs Research Conference "Financing Community Development: Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future" The best outcomes for consumers require a competitive market, fair opportunities, and a policy framework that makes both possible. The optimization of a policy framework along these lines is often most limited by the quality of information available concerning market realities...

The payday industry's "new" guidelines are already proven failures. Any reliance on them for legislative reforms will also fail. In states that have legislated these guidelines, the debt trap persists. Nearly two of every three loans still go to borrowers with twelve or more loans per year and less than one percent of transactions use the "mandatory" payment plan. The...

Banks stand back as debits and ATM withdrawals cause high-cost overdrafts for their customers Rather than linking their customers' checking accounts to their savings or other resources to cover overdrafts, many banks and credit unions are automatically covering their customers' shortfalls with expensive short-term loans. More overdrafts are happening when customers swipe their debit card or make an ATM withdrawal...