Testimony

Prepared Testimony of Michael D. Calhoun, General Counsel, Center for Responsible Lending before Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity Joint Hearing.

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

Committee: US House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Financial Services

The Center for Responsible Lending commented on Capital One's proposed acquisistion of ING Bank at a public meeting held by Federal Reserve on September 20, 2011. Summary CRL has done extensive research and policy work addressing checking account overdraft practices that cause significant harm to bank customers. We are concerned that Capital One's current overdraft practices are out of step...

Unsustainable lending pushed us into the financial crisis, and sustainable lending and responsible consumer financial services products are needed to restore and maintain economic health. An independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), as enacted by the Dodd-Frank Act (DFA or Dodd-Frank), is critical to reestablishing these sustainable lending practices.

CRL testifies that the biggest barrier to housing recovery is continuing foreclosures that could be stopped. Mortgage servicers are foreclosing unnecessarily, and the government has not yet used all the tools at its disposal to bring foreclosures under control and restore stability in the housing market.

Senior policy counsel Julia Gordon testifies before a House Financial Services subcommittee that "it is high time for Congress and other policymakers to employ every tool at their disposal" to end the foreclosure crisis.

"We must address the foreclosure problem head-on with every tool available," Senior Policy Counsel Julia Gordon says as part of her testimony before the Congressional Oversight Panel. The testimony covered HAMP strengths and weaknesses, common loan servicing abuses, and specific policy recommendations for reining in continuing foreclosures.

Julia Gordon testifies that there's no "silver bullet" for stopping foreclosures, and that's why we need multiple approaches to improve HAMP and effective actions beyond HAMP. For questions about this testimony, contact Julia Gordon at julia.gordon@responsiblelending.org or (202) 349-1878.

Julia Gordon, CRL Sr. Policy Counsel, testifies before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission on the causes and effects of the foreclosure crisis and why we need more and better responses. For questions about this testimony, contact Julia Gordon at julia.gordon@responsiblelending.org or (202) 349-1878.