CRL in the News

A new study highlights how Big Tech is trying to further strip Americans of their hard-earned money by enticing them to enroll in predatory payday loan apps that allow workers early access to their paychecks. The Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer protection nonprofit, found that “earned-wage access” users became ensnared in a borrowing cycle that, on average, left them...

The new Center for Responsible Lending report, exclusively shared with Fintech Business Weekly in advance of its publication today, uses a longitudinal approach to attempt to answer the question, how are a user’s financial health and behavior impacted after taking their first direct-to-consumer earned wage advance?

“The administration’s attempts to dismantle the nation’s only consumer financial protection watchdog will expose millions of households to excessive fees and financial predators and increase risks to the nation’s financial system,” said Mike Calhoun, president at the Center for Responsible Lending, in a statement responding to the appeals court ruling.

You should also monitor StudentAid.gov and your loan servicer’s website for updates, said Jaylon Herbin, director of federal campaigns at the Center for Responsible Lending. “Be wary of conflicting information, as even official sources have provided inconsistent guidance during recent transitions,” Herbin said.

Organizations like the National Consumer Law Center and the Center for Responsible Lending have pressed national and state policymakers to restrict EWA service charges.

"Consumers are at risk of overextension given that lenders are not required under the law to meaningfully check a borrower's ability-to-repay," said Nadine Chabrier, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending. "There is not currently a good way to check whether the borrower has multiple loans at the same time via credit report or otherwise."

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) has released a new report calling on policymakers and regulators to strengthen consumer protections in rooftop solar financing, warning that abusive practices threaten both homeowners and the industry’s long-term success. With the federal government scaling back oversight, CRL’s policy recommendations argue that states must take the lead in creating a fairer, more transparent market...

"Long delays in PSLF buyback processing must be corrected immediately so that public service workers who have provided essential local services are not deprived of the relief they've earned," said Jaylon Herbin, director of federal campaigns at the Center for Responsible Lending.

“We fully expect to see this sort of patchwork of state enforcement and state action that’s only going to benefit some Americans,” said Whitney Barkley-Denney, deputy director of state policy at the Center for Responsible Lending. Individual states can’t fully replicate what the CFPB does in scale or national impact, she added.

New credit score data, such as rent payment history and bank account cash flows, may benefit some mortgage borrowers, but the new elements could also cause some problems.