Center for Straight Answers
As a longstanding leader in the fight against reckless and abusive lending practices, the Center for Responsible Lending and its affiliate, Self-Help, are often the subject of attacks by predatory lenders. These well-financed interest groups create fancy front groups and back multi-million dollar smear campaigns to try and put a stop to the important work that we do.
Our opponents have a profit-driven interest in exploiting consumers with abusive lending practices. We, in the other hand, are driven by a non-profit, nonpartisan mission to protect homeownership and family wealth for hardworking Americans.We have created the Center for Straight Answers to set the record straight. Our opponent’s baseless attacks distract from the issues that matter, and the American people deserve the truth and straight answers.
Please feel free to search all of the entries below, and help us stay one step ahead of the predatory lenders and their lobbyists by using the tip-line to alert us to their new attacks and schemes.
To learn more about these fancy front groups and their attacks visit our Astroturf Group Alert page.
New attack on CRL is same old story--and still wrong
November 23, 2009
The Consumers Rights League is a fake grassroots group that has operated under the wing of various D.C. lobbying and public relations firms. Now they are attacking the accuracy of CRL lobbying reports, although their "complaint" merely repeats discredited claims about CRL donors and inaccurately alleges other "violations" where CRL has in fact complied with lobbying laws. The CR League admits that they "lack the facts to speak with certainty" about these issues--their real intent is to discredit CRL and prevent us from fighting unfair lending practices.
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PR Exec Says Front Groups "Don't Pass the Smell Test"
September 29, 2009
At a 2008 conference of the Financial Service Centers of America (FISCA), the payday lending industry described how it was using "guerilla blogging" to get its messages out. But Michael Cherenson, CEO of the Public Relations Social of America, recently said that an "intentional failure to clearly reveal the source of message contents is unethical."
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Dr. Evil's Payday
September 2, 2009
This article by Daniel Schulman of the nonprofit news organization Mother Jones explores the links between the payday lending industry and some of the front groups created by Berman and Company.
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How To Identify Astroturfers And Front Groups
September 1, 2009
This blog post by The Consumerist has some tips and links to help consumers identify “astroturf” organizations and front groups pushing for industry-sponsored agendas.
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Payday Lender Spreads False Claims Against Self-Help Credit Union
July 10, 2009
A recent industry blog claimed that divisions of Self-Help Credit Union offer a line of credit whereby a “customer pays a monthly fee of either $25 or $40, based on amount of credit used. For overdraft loans up to $250, the fee is $25. For loans up to $500, the fee is $40.” This statement is patently false. The blog then went on to use this false statement to calculate an APR for a $500 line of credit loan from Self-Help Credit Union that ranges from 208 percent to 2920 percent. This calculation, based on false information, is also inaccurate.
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The Truth Behind Econ4U.Org
July 2, 2009
Bob Sullivan of MSNBC's The Red Tape Chronicles investigates the truth behind Econ4U.Org, one of many Astroturf groups created by Berman and Co. to deceive the public of the real dangers of payday loans.
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Some Folks Have WAY Too Much Time on Their Hands
June 30, 2009
Payday lenders and their PR machine have been busy lately trying to tarnish CRL’s image by issuing fake news releases in our name, complete with bogus quotes from non-existent employees. Sorry payday folks, but we haven’t had time to respond to your PR make-believe—we’re too busy working on REAL solutions to help people and avoid another taxpayer-funded bailout of irresponsible lenders. You know, things like credit card reform, more consumer protections on financial products, a 36% rate cap on short-term loans, and ways to help families avoid foreclosure.
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How To Find A Legal Loan Shark?
June 15, 2009
This video posted on Howcast shows you how to find a legal loan shark, if you are willing to pay their high price.
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Front Group Busy Distorting Facts
May 12, 2009
In the last few weeks, the Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy and its website ECON4U.ORG have been busy distorting the facts around payday lending and its grave impact in hard-working families across the country. It is no coincide that this flurry of pro-payday lending activity by this Berman & Co. front group has picked up lately with the recent talk on Capitol Hill of a 36% federal APR cap on high-interest consumer loans.
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Roff’s Wrong
April 13, 2009
Peter Roff, a Fellow at the Institute for Liberty and former head of GOPAC, really stretches to blame Self-Help Credit Union for starting the subprime mortgage disaster through its Secondary Market program. In fact, Self-Help's loans look NOTHING like the securitized subprime loans that are going bad and crippling mortgage investors and financial markets.
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Astroturf Group Featured as Editor’s Pick of the Week
April 13, 2009
The “grassroots” group Center for Consumer Freedom is the "Editor's Pick of the Week" at SourceWatch, an online encyclopedia that documents PR and propaganda activities of public relations firms trying to manipulate public opinion and policy.
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Payday Loans Hurt the Economy
March 3, 2009
CRL and other organizations fighting predatory payday lending are not the only ones making the connection. Hear what David Lazarus, Business Columinist of the Los Angeles Times, has to say about high-interest payday loans.
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