Research

Overdraft lending: the problem Our nation's major banks and credit unions are making unsolicited, high-cost loans to their checking account holders when their account balance dips below zero, generating enormous fees for the banks and frequently driving their customers deeper into the negative. Financial institutions never have to reveal that customers pay triple- and quadruple-digit interest rates. They make overdraft...

Fremont case touted as a model for other states State shows that business as usual in subprime lending amounted to unfair and deceptive practices. CRL is encouraged by the recent success of the Massachusetts Attorney General (AG), who used longstanding consumer protection laws to stop foreclosures on unfair subprime loans. CRL believes the AG's approach could serve as an effective...

Read CRL CEO Martin Eakes' statement on the Housing Plan >> Hope for Stopping the Foreclosure Epidemic On February 18, 2009, the President announced a new, comprehensive plan for addressing the housing crisis. The plan, which called for more funding than anticipated, includes a range of incentives that will encourage lenders to modify loans. The plan recognizes that stopping foreclosures...

Payday loans create a cycle of debt that diminishes the income of vulnerable households Marketed as short-term relief for a cash crunch, payday loans carry annual interest rates of 400 percent and are designed to catch working people – or those with a steady source of income such as Social Security or a disability check – in a long-term debt...

Recent industry projections are that over eight million families will lose their homes to foreclosure over the next four years. That's one in every six homeowners with a mortgage. If the economy enters a deep recession, the number of homes lost could exceed 10 million. With the housing sector responsible for one in eight U.S. jobs, the flood of new...

Allow qualified homeowners to restructure mortgages under court supervision (H.R. 1106/S. 61) Restore confidence in the housing market by strengthening mortgage lending practices and correcting perverse business incentives to make bad loans (H.R. 1728) Reduce tax burdens related to loan modifications that undermine foreclosure prevention Reduce or eliminate key obstacles to constructive loan modifications (S. 376) Increase modifications by providing...

Judicial modifications would save hundreds of thousands of families from foreclosure. "We [Credit Suisse] expect the bankruptcy plan will provide about a 20% reduction in foreclosures." (p. 1) "[T]he new plan adds an important new tool in the foreclosure avoidance arsenal…" (p.4) The ability to modify mortgages in bankruptcy will also increase voluntary loan modifications. "We [Credit Suisse] expect the...

Court-supervised loan modifications would preserve home values—without using public funds—while providing fair terms to lenders. Over the next several years, 8.1 million American families will lose their homes. Because of market declines, these struggling homeowners can neither refinance nor sell. Unless their mortgages are modified to align the loan amount with the value of the home, the foreclosure crisis will...

The foreclosure crisis is even worse than expected, and projected to worsen Recent industry projections are that over 8 million families will lose their home to foreclosure over the next four years. That's 1 in every 6 homeowners with a mortgage. If the economy enters deep recession, the number of homes lost could exceed 10 million. With the housing sector...

The Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2009 (S 61 and HR 200) The failure to stem the foreclosure crisis will cost the taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars in lost tax revenues and economic decline. Recent industry projections are that over 8 million families will lose their home to foreclosure over the next four years. That's...