Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Five years after the start of the economic crisis, public opinion continues to solidly favor both strong regulation of banks and financial companies and the need for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a national telephone survey of likely voters conducted this summer. The survey of 1,004 likely voters was conducted between July 8-11, 2013, by Lake Research Partners...

As the U.S. Senate Banking Committee prepared for a March 20, 2013 vote on the reappointment of CFPB Director Richard Cordray, CRL urged committee members to swiftly act and confirm him.

This chapter in the State of Lending report series presents a picture of the overall financial status of U.S. consumers today. It is based on data from the Consumer Expenditure survey, the Survey of Consumer Finances, and other national data sources. These sources reveal that, since 2000, American families have faced declining real incomes,a higher cost of living, greater debt...

CRL told the CFPB of abusive financial practices against older Americans. More than 13 million older adults live on $21,800 a year or less. Further, the average credit card debt for these consumers is now more than $9,000 – the highest average balance of any group.

Testimony of Kenneth W. Edwards Vice President of Federal Affairs, Center for Responsible Lending, before the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit in regards to hearing on Examining Consumer Credit Access Concerns. The testimony emphasized three points: H.R. 6139 and similar legislation would circumvent the carefully contemplated supervisory, enforcement, and rulemaking authority...

Lack of regulation led to the foreclosure crisis that has destabilized the housing market and mortgage lending: Federal regulators could have stepped in to curb abusive lending practices in the years leading up to the foreclosure crisis, but this failed to happen. Instead, the private label securitization system bypassed government oversight by bundling an increasing number of subprime and Alt-A...

74% of Americans favor the CFPB Voters are nearly unanimous in their support for specific policies the CFPB has created A July 2012 poll demonstrates very broad bipartisan support for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and other reforms in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This poll--taken at the two-year anniversary of Dodd-Frank--has similar results to...

Remarks by Bill Sermons, Research Director from the Center for Responsible Lending, before the Credit Reporting Field Hearing convened by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Detroit, Michigan on July 16, 2012.

The Center for Responsible Lending, Consumer Federation of America and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights responded to the CFPB's request for comments on qualified mortgages. Much of the comment letter focuses on an appropriate "bright line" debt-to-income ratio standard for QMs. Setting a narrow debt-to-income ratio for QMs would unnecessarily exclude a large share of borrowers from...