CRL is working to monitor the unfolding developments of the COVID-19 pandemic and its financial and economic effects on LMI communities and communities of color. As the response to the crisis continues, CRL is advocating for strong consumer protections and financial relief for the consumers, workers and small businesses that are always among the hardest hit by any national emergency or economic downturn. This situation is rapidly developing. We will continue to update this page with related statements, articles, and resources. CRL Policy Recommendations Financial Implications of the Criminal...
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.
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COVID-19 Crisis Requires Comprehensive Response to Protect Financial Security, CARES Act Falls Short
H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act)—signed into law on March 27, 2020—offers important benefits for the public health crisis caused by COVID-19. However, the bill fails to provide substantive, comprehensive financial relief for vulnerable families who now face economic challenges, such as unemployment and reduced work hours, as a result of the crisis. It excludes millions of undocumented residents and mixed status families from accessing critical financial relief. Furthermore, it prevents returning citizens from gaining relief. The lessons of the Great...
The COVID-19 crisis is having profound financial impacts on families across the country and on the economy overall. With businesses shuttered, and over 22 million unemployment claims filed in the first month of the crisis alone, it is hard to overstate the financial instability and hardship the crisis has produced. These impacts will worsen over time, as immediate income shortfalls result in missed or late bill payments, adding late fees and related penalties to swelling debt burdens. Some families will lose their homes to eviction or foreclosure, either now, or when protections available to...
From the letter to Congressional leadership: The undersigned consumer and banking industry organizations write to urge Congress at the soonest possible opportunity to clarify that economic impact payments responding to this public health emergency are exempt from otherwise legally binding garnishment orders. Our organizations have worked together to address this issue and we believe that is possible to protect American families in a manner that is also workable for financial institutions.
The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) joined with 26 national civil rights, consumer, housing and labor groups, and 35 state groups in sending a letter to Congress with specific financial policy proposals that help address the needs of families most at risk from the impending economic collapse. A PDF of the letter is included above.
From the letter: We believe such a rulemaking is necessary to provide much-needed clarity to this thus-far opaque part of the U.S. financial system – that is, the manner in which parent companies and affiliates of ILCs are subject to any kind of federal regulatory or supervisory oversight. By contrast, the federal statutory, regulatory and supervisory framework for parent companies and affiliates of ordinary banks is fully transparent and quite clear. We congratulate you and the FDIC staff for doing this important work, and for soliciting public comment on it.
Download the amicus brief submitted by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC (Cohen Milstein) to the United States Supreme Court in the case of Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on behalf of their clients, community development financial institutions (CDFIs) Self-Help Credit Union, Hope Enterprise Corporation / Hope Credit Union (HOPE), Inclusiv, and the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB).
Democratic primary voters in the states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina strongly support a tough approach to oversight of Wall Street, according to a new poll conducted by Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting. Democrats and independents, and even many Republicans share the views of this crucial set of voters. Americans see the need for strong regulation of the financial services industry, tough enforcement of existing rules, and additional measures, even after hearing opposing arguments that stress a danger in the role of government. And they strongly...
From the brief’s introductory passage: Imbued with the spirit of the American dream, and in reliance on the DACA program, enrollees have made substantial investments in themselves, their families, and their communities. Contrary to the government’s assertion in its brief to this Court (e.g., Pet. Br. 46), the DACA enrollees are not engaged in “ongoing illegal activity” or “ongoing violation of federal law.” To the contrary, under DACA and with the government’s permission, enrollees are legally engaged in educational, tax-paying, teaching, and military activities. See, e.g., Case No. 18-589 Pet...