Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, a leaked version of a housing finance proposal from U.S. Senators Bob Corker (TN) and Mark Warner (VA) emerged that would severely harm America’s housing market. Today, several civil rights and affordable housing groups issued a statement on the proposal’s negative impact on access, affordability, and market stability. The Center for Responsible Lending, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP, National CAPACD, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, National Fair Housing Alliance, National Urban

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided in PHH Corporation v. CFPB that the President can only remove the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for cause instead of at will. The decision invalidates a 2016 court panel’s previous and unprecedented 2-1 ruling where two judges agreed that the CFPB Director can be removed at will instead of for cause. Center for Responsible Lending Senior Policy Counsel Melissa Stegman released the following statement: Today's decision by the D.C. Circuit is a victory for families

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During the State of the Union address, the President said, “we have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in history.” If you wish to see this deregulation he is touting in action, look to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Unlawfully appointed CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney is systematically weakening vital consumer protections. Yana Miles, Senior Legislative Counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), issued the following statement: Mick Mulvaney is making it easier for predatory lenders to pick the pocketbooks of

Unlawfully Appointed Acting Director Mulvaney Wants CFPB to Use Emergency Funds Instead, Signaling Latest Chapter in Campaign to Dismantle the Consumer Bureau WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Mick Mulvaney sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen that “for Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2018, the Bureau is requesting $0.” Mulvaney wants to instead deplete the reserve fund. Also this week, Mulvaney initiated a public review to critique the CFPB, reopened a CFPB rule intended to stop payday loan debt traps, and without explanation, the CFPB dropped a case against a payday lender accused of

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, who was unlawfully appointed to also be Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), announced that the CFPB would reopen its rule on payday and car-title loans. This is Mulvaney’s first formal step toward trying to eliminate planned CFPB protections against the payday loan debt trap. Rebecca Borné, Senior Policy Counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) issued the following statement: The human devastation caused by payday loans, which average nearly 400 percent APR, has been extensively documented. For more

WASHINGTON, D.C. - From January 8-11, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) hosted the second of three negotiated rulemaking sessions on its Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule. The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and other advocates are working with DOE officials to strike an agreement to protect students defrauded by their schools. “We remain concerned that the outcome of this process will be a rule that further insulates bad institutional actors from accountability and effectively denies relief to many defrauded students,” said CRL Counsel Ashley Harrington, who is currently one of the

Investigation uncovered that white borrowers with weaker credit profiles received less expensive financing and more favorable treatment than their non-white counterparts who were more financially qualified. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) released an investigative report detailing the ongoing racially discriminatory practices that exist in the auto lending market. In their findings, NFHA uncovered that more than half the time white borrowers with weaker credit profiles received less expensive financing options and more favorable treatment than their non

Proposed Changes In Housing Finance Reform Could Reduce the Ability of Community Banks and Credit Unions to Provide Mortgage Credit WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Brookings Institution’s Center on Regulation and Markets published a report by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) on the state of the rural housing market. While almost a quarter of Americans live in rural communities, they are often overlooked in policy discussions. The CRL report analyzes the most recent Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data and reviews aspects of proposed changes to the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Leading civil and human rights organizations and housing policy advocates wrote in a letter today that both the U.S. Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees to demand that stakeholders—now excluded from current Congressional discussion on reforming the nation’s housing finance system—be expanded to include all voices and perspectives. Organizations seeking to advise the congressional committees are: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, Center for Responsible Lending, National

Bill to dismantle higher education opportunity passes committee after late night vote and without bipartisan support WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, shortly after midnight, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed the PROSPER Act, a bill to eliminate important programs and safeguards that make higher education accessible and affordable for low-income students. The bill was approved without bipartisan support after a daylong debate and markup procedure where Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and other sponsors of the legislation summarily denied nearly all 40 amendments submitted by