CRL in the News

“Kathy Kraninger’s nomination is just a political play for Mick Mulvaney to cement his anti-consumer agenda at the CFPB,” said Debbie Goldstein, executive vice president at the Center for Responsible Lending. “She has no experience in protecting Americans from predatory lenders and has a record of mismanagement that’s harmed families across the country.”

“When you’re dealing with primary residences, that’s a situation that could have potential lifetime repercussions,” said Scott B. Astrada, director of federal advocacy for the Center for Responsible Lending. “Some of the models I’ve seen raise a lot of questions and concerns that we don’t have answers to yet — and I don’t think anyone does.” He also questioned what would prevent the companies from ignoring low-income, minority, and rural communities that have seen slow growth in real estate values following the Great Recession.

Many African American households are worse off than they were 30 years ago. About eight percent of African-American homeowners lost their properties to foreclosure from 2007 to 2009, according to estimates from the Center for Responsible Lending. Only 43% of blacks owned homes in 2017, according to an annual report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

“With Wells now publicly committed to making restitution for its actions,” says Ross, “we feel now would be a good time for the CBB to get a seat at the table as well.” Members of the council, which includes representatives of church groups and organizations like the Center for Responsible Lending, seem responsive to the request, which the CBB initially presented to management last year. Until the Des Moines meeting, the company had been cool to the idea, but Wells CEO Timothy Sloan seemed open to the idea when Ross raised it at the meeting, and CBB is following up.

Lindblad said redlining — the government-sanctioned practice of restricting home loans for people of color to certain areas — and other bad lending practices disproportionately hurt communities of color. That has resulted in more foreclosures and vacant homes in some neighborhoods. When homeownership is done right, Lindblad said the sense of stability can boost a person’s health, strengthen the surrounding community and reduce crime.

“Fifty years ago, Congress empowered HUD to dismantle legalized discrimination in housing to create opportunity for all as where you live is a factor in so many of life’s outcomes, including education and healthcare,” noted Nikitra Bailey, an EVP with the Center for Responsible Lending.

“California does not need a bill that would benefit the risky model of a single business,” a coalition of advocacy groups, including the Center for Responsible Lending and the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, wrote in a letter to lawmakers last month. “Until we make real progress on across-the-board small-dollar credit issues, bad actors will continue to exploit gaps in the law and peddle costly loans in our communities.”

Banks and credit card companies “have been able to comply with the legislation and provide just as much access to products as before,” Scott B. Astrada, director of federal advocacy for the Center for Responsible Lending, told Bloomberg Law.

“California does not need a bill that would benefit the risky model of a single business,” a coalition of advocacy groups, including the Center for Responsible Lending and the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, wrote in a letter to lawmakers last month. “Until we make real progress on across-the-board small-dollar credit issues, bad actors will continue to exploit gaps in the law and peddle costly loans in our communities.”

“Payday lenders and their allies in Congress have consistently tried to weaken CFPB’s authority for meritless and political reasons,” said Debbie Goldstein, the executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending, in a statement. “Brett Kavanaugh is someone who’s made common cause with that effort.”