Press Releases

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) lauds the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to terminate federal recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). This action will prevent schools accredited by ACICS from participating in federal financial aid programs. Approximately 550,000 students are currently enrolled in schools accredited by ACICS. Many of these students are enrolled at for-profit colleges and universities. Two for-profit institutions, Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Education Services were both closed as a result of weak

Groups Call for More Robust Documentation Standards to Ensure Debt Collectors Can Prove a Debt Is Owed A coalition of 59 national and state organizations, led by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA), Consumers Union, Americans for Financial Reform, and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) sent a letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray urging the Bureau to strengthen its proposed outline to rein in abusive debt collection practices. The coalition, made up of consumer, civil rights, and legal services advocates, highlighted their concerns

Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) welcomed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's action against Bridgepoint Education, Inc., a for-profit college chain based in San Diego, Calif., for deliberately misleading students into taking out private education loans that cost more than advertised. Under the action, CFPB is ordering Bridgepoint to discharge any and all outstanding private loans made to its students and refund loan payments already made by borrowers. The total loan forgiveness and refund is estimated to be more than $23.5 million, and Bridgepoint is required to pay an

In an August 31 ruling, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) secured a critical win in a suit against California-based payday and installment lender for “servicing and collecting full payment on loans that state-licensing and usury laws had rendered wholly or partially void or uncollectible.” In an action to enforce the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the CFPB filed the suit in 2013 against CashCall and its affiliates, which partnered with another company, WesternSky, and claimed that tribal law rather than state law applied to their loans. The federal

In response to today’s announcement that ITT Technical Educational Services, Inc. will close all of its nationwide locations, the Center for Responsible Lending’s Whitney Barkley, a policy counsel specializing in student loans made the following statement: Although ITT Tech blamed its closures on August 25 Department of Education supervisory actions, the institution was facing multiple state investigations as well as other serious signs of approaching failure. The first danger signal came when the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools found that ITT Tech was "not in

New research finds that in states without triple-digit payday loans, 90 million consumers save more than $2.2 billion each year that would have otherwise been paid to lenders. These costs savings also bring fewer long-term financial harms such as bankruptcy. The research shows that consumers in payday-free states have multiple ways to manage temporary cash shortfalls and at a fraction of the cost of payday loans. As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau receives public comments on how its proposed rule could close loopholes, the new research is particularly timely. A number of strong state

CRL research finds low lending levels perpetuate racial wealth gaps and segregation. Mortgage lending in the nation's most populous state continues to lock out many of California's consumers of color, finds the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). A new analysis of first-lien, owner-occupied home purchase mortgages made from 2012-2014, reveal a lack of access to conventional mortgages for many Latino and African-American consumers. These troubling lending patterns perpetuate racial wealth gaps and housing segregation. "These post-crisis mortgage lending trends in California help to inform our

Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) convened a public hearing in Sacramento on the first look at the agency's proposals to address abusive debt collection. The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) delivered expert testimony that highlighted how millions Americans are affected by this $13 billion industry. Equally important, the public hearing also provides the opportunity to offer initial feedback on the proposals as the Bureau begins its related rulemaking process. "We know from research and enforcement actions in the states that over the past decade debt buyers and other

Financial accountability and tough regulations are still needed, say 3 out of 4 likely voters. These two top line findings from a recent poll measured consumer satisfaction with Wall Street banks as well as a range of other financial services and providers including credit cards, debt collectors, payday loans and mortgages. The poll, jointly commissioned by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), reveals that these preferences are shared across partisan affiliations. When asked whether more financial regulation was needed, 69 percent of all

A new national poll found that, by a margin of 3 to 1, voters strongly support restoring consumers' right to join together to take legal action against banks and other financial services companies that break the law. With the House of Representatives set to vote today on a multi-agency appropriations bill with riders that would strip the CFPB's authority to act on forced arbitration, voters of all political parties express majority support for federal action to restrict the practice. Consumer finance contracts now commonly require disputes to be settled through private arbitration instead of