In Congressional Testimony, CRL Calls for Buy Now Pay Later and other Fintech Products to be Monitored and Regulated

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Director of California Policy Marisabel Torres is currently testifying before the House Financial Services Committee’s Task Force on Financial Technology for a hearing titled “Buy Now, Pay More Later? Investigating Risks and Benefits of BNPL and Other Emerging Fintech Cash Flow Products.” Watch the hearing and to read text of both her oral and written testimonies. In her written testimony, Ms. Torres states: We are particularly concerned that without vigilant monitoring and appropriate regulation, products that promise to promote

Bank Regulators’ Proposal on Third-Party Relationships Silent on Predatory Rent-a-bank Lending, Posing Risks for Banks and Consumers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for Responsible Lending, the Consumer Federation of America, the National Consumer Law Center, on behalf of its low-income clients, and the National Fair Housing Alliance released their comment letter to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and Federal Reserve Board (FRB) on the regulators’ “Proposed Interagency Guidance on Third-Party Relationships: Risk Management.” The comments noted that the guidance is silent about rent-a-bank lending, whereby a bank rents out its charter to a financial

Organizations Receive $250,000 Grant to Help Entrepreneurs of Color Start and Grow Businesses

WASHINGTON – Three national advocacy organizations today announced they have received a $250,000 grant to engage with policymakers and address systemic challenges that prevent Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latinx and Black entrepreneurs and micro-entrepreneurs from being able to start and grow businesses. The National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD), National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) and Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) will use the Rebuilding Together grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to

CFPB Urged to Reverse Earned Wage Actions that Threaten to Create Dangerous Fintech Payday Loan Loopholes

Opinion and Order Under Former Director Kraninger Promote Evasions of Credit, Fair Lending, and Payday Loan Laws WASHINGTON, DC – A coalition of 96 consumer, labor, civil rights, legal services, faith, community and financial organizations and academics is urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to revoke or significantly revise two actions taken in late 2020 regarding earned wage access (EWA) products. The groups’ letter argued that the CFPB’s EWA advisory opinion and PayActiv approval order, which declared certain EWA programs not to be “credit,” threaten to create loopholes

CRL Supports Rep. Waters in Opposing Removal of Housing Funds

“We cannot Build Back Better by eliminating funding for one of the best wealth-building, job-creating, community-stabilizing tools available to working Americans – access to affordable housing,” said Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending. “We stand with Chairwoman Waters in opposition to efforts to reach a budget reconciliation agreement by stripping assistance for overburdened Americans who increasingly are finding affordable homeownership and rental housing out of reach.” ### Press Contact: Alfred.King@responsiblelending.org

Joint statement in response to Oportun’s Withdrawal for National Bank Charter

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC), the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), California LULAC, the Consumer Federation of California (CFC), Haven Neighborhood Services, New Economics for Women (NEW), and a coalition of consumer advocates issued the following joint statement in response to Oportun’s withdrawal of its application for a national bank charter: Our coalition is pleased that Oportun, in the face of significant opposition, withdrew their national bank charter application. However, this matter is far from over since it

New California DFPI Report on Consumer Lending

OAKLAND, CA – Following release of a new California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) report, Center for Responsible Lending Director of California Policy Marisabel Torres issued the following statement: This report is the first since California’s groundbreaking law capping annual interest rates at 36% went into effect. The data show that the law essentially eliminated triple-digit interest rate loans that are between $2,500 and $10,000, which is a significant victory in protecting consumers from these predatory products. California policymakers should now take the next

Improvements to Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

“These new Public Service Loan Forgiveness standards will allow hundreds of thousands of Americans to finally access the promised loan forgiveness they earned after working for years in their communities and making their agreed-upon repayments,” said Whitney Barkley-Denney, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending. “While more needs to be done, it is encouraging that this Department of Education listened to borrowers and advocates and made much-needed reforms to address some of the failures of the program.” ### Press Contacts: Alfred King alfred.king@responsiblelending.org

In Today’s Vote, Senators Should Support Rohit Chopra for CFPB Director

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate is expected to take a final vote today on the nomination of Federal Trade Commission member Rohit Chopra to serve as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In response to this development, Center for Responsible Lending Acting Federal Advocacy Director Graciela Aponte-Diaz issued the following statement: Rohit Chopra is the consumer watchdog our country needs. He is up to the challenge of protecting people’s wallets from predatory practices, ranging from lending discrimination to COVID relief scams to abusive debt collection practices

Civil Rights, Consumer Protection, and Housing Policy Organizations Applaud Senator Raphael Warnock’s Introduction of the $100 Billion Downpayment Toward Equity Act, Call for Its Immediate Passage

Washington, D.C. — Following Senator Raphael Warnock’s (D-GA) introduction of the Senate companion to the Downpayment Toward Equity Act, which would allocate $100 billion in funding for first-time homebuyers, the National Fair Housing Alliance, the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, the National Urban League, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, the Center for Responsible Lending, UnidosUS, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights issued the following statement: “Homeownership remains one of the most important drivers of wealth