Payday and Other Small Dollar Loans

On July 29, 2021, Ashley Harrington testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hearing on "Protecting Americans from Debt Traps by Extending the Military's 36% Interest Rate Cap to Everyone." Her written testimony as well as her oral remarks are available for download. Watch the recorded hearing:

The following two comments oppose the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA or the Board)’s proposal to expand the activities in which credit union service organizations (CUSOs) are permitted to engage. This proposal will authorize predatory lending by credit unions, hampering household security at a time when greater security is badly needed. It will also increase racial discrimination, as families of...

On April 28, 2021, Lisa Stifler testified in front of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs during a hearing entitled, "The Reemergence of Rent-a-Bank?" Her written testimony as well as her oral remarks are available for download. Watch Lisa Stifler's opening remarks and the entire hearing:

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) “fake lender” rule is an existential threat to state interest rate limits that protect consumers from predatory lending. Since the American Revolution, states have limited interest rates to stop predatory lending. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia (DC) have interest rate caps on at least some installment loans, depending on...

The coalition of signatories to the letter consists of 325 groups, including civil rights, community, consumer, faith, housing, labor, legal services, senior rights, small business, student lending, and veterans organizations. The letter states that “[t]he rule replaces the longstanding ‘true lender’ anti-evasion doctrine with a ‘fake lender’ rule that allows lenders charging rates of 179% or higher to evade state...

The Center for Responsible Lending and several consumer, faith, community, and civil rights groups wrote to strongly oppose an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)’s proposed rule that could unreasonably limit banks’ ability to decide not to serve particular entities, including payday and other predatory lenders. Download the comment letter.

On December 22, 2020, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) in partnership with several organizations submitted two letters to the OCC in regard to Oportun's application for a bank charter. CRL takes concern with Oportun's poor underwriting standards that harm the consumers they purport to serve; their intimidating debt collection practices; their new partnership with DolEx Check Cashing stores; and...

On December 22, 2020, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) in partnership with several organizations submitted two letters to the OCC in regard to Oportun's application for a bank charter. CRL takes concern with Oportun's poor underwriting standards that harm the consumers they purport to serve; their intimidating debt collection practices; their new partnership with DolEx Check Cashing stores; and...

Civil rights and consumer groups -- Center for Responsible Lending, National Consumer Law Center, East Bay Community Law Center, National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, and National Coalition for Asian Pacific Americans Community Development – filed an amicus brief in support of the attorneys general of California, Illinois, and New York in their case against a rule from the...

The Center for Responsible Lending and the undersigned consumer, civil rights, community and faithbased organizations oppose the Bureau’s plans to engage in payday loan disclosure testing. We do so in the broader context of the Bureau’s having repealed much-needed substantive ability-to-repay protections without basis and in light of the overwhelming evidence that disclosures will not protect consumers from the harms...