Mortgage Lending

Home ownership has been the primary means for most American families to build and pass on inter-generational wealth. However, government-sanctioned racial discrimination in housing and mortgage finance markets robbed many families of this opportunity, and today’s racial homeownership gap is barely changed from the levels of more than 50 years ago. Closing the homeownership gap is essential to closing the racial wealth gap.  Additionally, predatory mortgage lending practices drained trillions in wealth from families, especially Black, Latino, low wealth and low-income Americans. CRL successfully advocated for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which has made the mortgage market far safer for consumers. CRL is building on this progress by working to ensure that all credit-worthy borrowers have access to fair, affordable, and sustainable mortgages. And that policy makers and market participants develop solutions that are appropriate to respond to the scale of this housing crisis. 

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While we are heartened that the OCC has recognized many of the issues raised by state anti-predatory lending efforts in recent years, the OCC's guidance for national banks is no substitute for meaningful and effective legislative efforts at the state and federal level. Further, we are disappointed that the OCC does not identify some practices as clearly predatory and take...
Prepayment Penalties Impact Minority Neighborhoods Click here to visit our tutorial, which walks you through a Truth in Lending disclosure form, and educate yourself. For years, subprime lenders have defended prepayment penalties by claiming that borrowers with penalties get a lower interest rate. Now, groundbreaking research by CRL shows that borrowers get no rate benefits with subprime prepayment penalties --...
Prepayment Penalties Impact Minority Neighborhoods Click here to visit our tutorial, which walks you through a Truth in Lending disclosure form, and educate yourself. For years, subprime lenders have defended prepayment penalties by claiming that borrowers with penalties get a lower interest rate. Now, groundbreaking research by CRL shows that borrowers get no rate benefits with subprime prepayment penalties --...
EACH YEAR, PREPAYMENT PENALTIES IN SUBPRIME LOANS CAUSE 850,000 FAMILIES TO LOSE $2.3 BILLION IN HOME EQUITY WEALTH. The Penalty for Improved Credit Consider this typical scenario: An African-American family gets a subprime mortgage loan for $150,000 with a 12% interest rate. After making timely payments for three years, they realize they can qualify for a better loan. However, when...
Testimony of Martin Eakes, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Responsible Lending before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hearing On the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's Rules on National Bank Preemption and Visitorial Powers
Wall Street analysts praise Wells Fargo's revenue and sales growth, diversification, distribution/marketing prowess, and standout risk management. Despite Wells Fargo's success, there appear to be serious trouble spots in its subprime mortgage lending, particularly the predatory practices of Wells Fargo Financial (WFF) that victimize low-wealth consumers. While these practices have been criticized by community groups since the mid-1990s, they apparently...
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