Research

According to new data released recently by the FDIC, the largest banks in America collected $11.45 billion in overdraft and non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees from American consumers in 2017, an increase of approximately $10 million over the 2016 total. Overdraft fees often impose a great burden on those already living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to make ends meet. Typically, a small proportion of bank account holders pay a large proportion of total overdraft fees. Since 2015, the FDIC has collected and released information about these controversial penalty fees from banks that have $1...

The “Stop Overdraft Profiteering Act of 2018,” introduced by Senators Booker and Brown, would address extremely high-cost overdraft fees financial institutions charge on checking accounts. Banks’ overdraft practices exploit the financially vulnerable, leaving them worse off and driving many from the banking system altogether. The bill would establish reasonable safeguards for checking account holders; restore transparency to the checking account market; and ultimately encourage banks to expand responsible small dollar loan offerings rather than perpetuate this harmful practice.

Voters of all political parties overwhelmingly oppose the actions taken by Mick Mulvaney to undermine the mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and feel a strong connection between lax enforcement of the rules on Wall Street and their daily welfare, according to a new poll release by Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). Ten years after the 2008 financial crisis brought on a searing recession, the survey revealed enduring, strong, and bipartisan support for tougher regulation of Wall Street and predatory lenders. Conducted by...

Lump sum single balloon payment payday loans with a two-week term have historically dominated the payday loan market. A shift in recent years, due to regulatory or industry changes, has been for payday lenders to make payday loans with longer terms due in multiple installment payments, each due on or around the borrower’s payday. Payday lenders often market these products as a better, more affordable option, even though longer-term payday loans carry triple-digit interest rates, require access to a borrower's bank account to extract payments, and are made with little to no assessment of the...

The PROSPER Act is yet another boost for the private sector instead of consumers and taxpayers. At a time when college affordability is increasingly beyond the financial reach of most Americans, the future of higher education and student lending will affect both consumers and our nation’s ability to effectively compete in a global economy. With more than 44 million Americans in debt for $1.4 trillion in loans, the PROSPER Act sidesteps actions that would effectively address this unsustainable debt and increase college access to create a financial climate that further benefits for‐profit...

The marketing of for-profit colleges is ubiquitous, yet student outcomes are consistently poor. These outcomes include high dropout rates, low and unstable earnings of graduates, and heavy debt burdens that students are unable to repay, often resulting in default and ruined credit. The reliance of for-profit colleges on federal student aid dollars compounds these harms and fuels these poor student results. Over the last decade, for-profit colleges have been subject to numerous investigations in the media and at both state and federal levels for fraudulent financial aid programs, predatory...

In our January 2017 CRL Issue Brief, States without Payday and Car-title Lending Save $5 Billion in Fees Annually, we estimated that consumers in states without payday and car title lending save over $5 billion in fees each year – $2.2 billion in payday fees saved, plus another $2.8 billion in car title fees saved. In this earlier Issue Brief, we also estimated that consumers in North Carolina save over $457 million in payday and car title fees every year, $255 million in payday fee savings and another $202 million in car title fee savings. Of the 32 states with payday and/or car title fee...

Since 1934, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has played a vital role in the housing finance system. It serves as the entry point to the mortgage market for many first-time homebuyers and helped create a strong economic recovery following the Great Depression. However, in its early development, the FHA perpetuated racial discrimination in its facilitation of broad mortgage credit liquidity by favoring white borrowers and excluding African-Americans and other people of color. This discrimination is a key contributor to the differing rates of homeownership between whites and people of...

Congressional Review Act (CRA) H.J. Res. 132/S.J. Res. 57 seeks to nullify the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 2013 guidance addressing indirect auto lending. This guidance describes auto lenders’ responsibility, established by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, to avoid discriminatory lending practices. Lending discrimination in the auto market, substantiated by data time and again, has long been prevalent.

Among Maryland voters, concern over student loan debt has reached a critical mass: 71% say student loan debt in the state is a "major problem;" 82% agree that the overall outstanding student loan debt represents a financial crisis; and 87% say the federal government should not force states to step aside when addressing the student loan crisis, but work with them, instead. Maryland voters develop a high level of concern when informed about several matters confronting the student loan industry. 86% say it's concerning when told about allegations that $4 billion was added to customers’ student...