Consumer Finance

CRL monitors developments across the consumer finance sector and acts to protect people’s pocketbooks from financial misconduct so families can build financial stability. This includes advocating for enforcement of laws banning discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, and other protected characteristics. CRL also fights to defend the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a crucial government watchdog that was established in the wake of the 2008 Financial Crisis to stop predatory practices. We support the development of policy and regulatory infrastructure needed to ensure an equitable green lending marketplace for all consumers. 

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Advocates Warn Financial Services Innovation Act Would Cause "Sahara Desert" of Consumer Protections

Advocates Warn Financial Services Innovation Act Would Cause "Sahara Desert" of Consumer Protections

In a letter to the House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee, consumer advocates warn that the Financial Services Innovation Act of 2023 would facilitate evasion of existing consumer protection laws and regulations. Citing the foreclosure crisis around 2008 and other examples, the letter states: "Blind endorsement of 'innovations' leads to consumer harms." The bill, currently a discussion draft, was considered...
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Letters to Congress
Consumer Finance Small Business

Advocates Warn Earned Wage Access Bill Facilitates Fintech & Payday Lender Harm to Consumers

Advocates Warn Earned Wage Access Bill Facilitates Fintech & Payday Lender Harm to Consumers

In a letter to the author of the Earned Wage Access Consumer Protection Act, advocates warn: "In the guise of offering protections, the bill obscures its true effect: to exempt fintech cash advances from the Truth in Lending Act, to endorse a form of loan that makes workers pay to be paid, and to facilitate new evasions by payday lenders."...
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Letters to Congress
Consumer Finance Small Business

Waiving Criminal Court Fees Prevents Harms of Civil Debt

Waiving Criminal Court Fees Prevents Harms of Civil Debt

Many people involved in the criminal legal system live on the economic margins. Most defendants are unable to hire their own lawyer due to indigency. In North Carolina, the average person in prison doesn’t have a high school diploma. The cost of involvement in the criminal legal system can quickly add up to thousands of dollars, but the people expected...
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Research
Consumer Finance

Voters Overwhelmingly Support the Consumer Bureau’s Mission Across Party Lines

Voters Overwhelmingly Support the Consumer Bureau’s Mission Across Party Lines

New data from the bipartisan polling team Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting shows that voters across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support the ongoing mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to regulate the financial industry and protect consumers. The survey also revealed strong support for maintaining the secure, independent funding mechanism for the CFPB. These new findings...
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Research
Consumer Finance Small Business

Comment to CFPB on Abusive Acts and Practices

Comment to CFPB on Abusive Acts and Practices

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Policy Statement on Abusive Acts and Practices and invited comments from the public. The Center for Responsible Lending applauds the CFPB for its efforts to further clarify abusive acts and practices. The Center further offers insights into how the statement may be strengthened to clarify the ways these acts take unreasonable advantage...
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Comment Letter
Consumer Finance Debt Collection & Settlement Mortgage Lending Overdraft Fees

Letter for House Hearing: “Uncertain Debt Management: Treasury Markets and Financial Institutions”

Letter for House Hearing: “Uncertain Debt Management: Treasury Markets and Financial Institutions”

From the letter: We strongly believe many of the reforms being considered today will harm consumers and the financial markets. These misguided approaches will place every American taxpayer at risk by increasing the likelihood that our nation’s economy may suffer yet another financial crisis. There are two proposals that are especially concerning. The first increases the asset thresholds at which...
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Letters to Congress
Consumer Finance

Letter for House Hearing: “Uncertain Debt Management: Treasury Markets and Financial Institutions”

Letter for House Hearing: “Uncertain Debt Management: Treasury Markets and Financial Institutions”

From the letter: We strongly believe many of the reforms being considered today will harm consumers and the financial markets. These misguided approaches will place every American taxpayer at risk by increasing the likelihood that our nation’s economy may suffer yet another financial crisis. There are two proposals that are especially concerning. The first increases the asset thresholds at which...
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Letters to Congress
Consumer Finance

Amici Brief from Center for Responsible Lending, Self-Help, and NALCAB in Support of the CFPB

Amici Brief from Center for Responsible Lending, Self-Help, and NALCAB in Support of the CFPB

The CFPB plays an integral role in the nation’s financial system. The Bureau’s work ensures that the system functions in a manner that is responsive to the interests of all market participants—consumers, large financial entities, and smaller institutions like Amici. Congress’s chosen method of funding the Bureau underpins the Bureau’s ability to do this important work, free from the outsized...
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Amicus Brief
Consumer Finance

Coalition Opposes Dangerous Package of Bills Titled the “CFPB Transparency and Accountability Reform Act”

Coalition Opposes Dangerous Package of Bills Titled the “CFPB Transparency and Accountability Reform Act”

From the introduction to the letter: On behalf of the undersigned national, state, and local organizations, we urge you to oppose the dangerous package of bills titled the “CFPB Transparency and Accountability Reform Act” that threaten the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) funding, organizational structure, and its ability to monitor the marketplace by impeding their rulemaking functions. This package would...
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Letters to Congress
Consumer Finance
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