CRL in the News

Before turning to a fast-cash lender, run through your options, says Scott Astrada, federal advocacy director at the nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending.

The Center for Responsible Lending — which sponsored Assembly Bill 2500 — said lawmakers wilted and succumbed to the financial industry’s heavy lobbying. “Assembly members just signaled to predatory lenders that it’s OK to target distressed Californians into taking out abusive loans,” the nonprofit’s policy director Graciela Aponte-Diaz said. “People around California and across the country want protections from these loan shark products — they’ve made their voices heard time and time again.”

"We are opposed to the proposal just simply because we don't feel like the rates need to be raised at this time, at a time when banks are experiencing record profits," said Kelly Tornow, director of North Carolina policy for the Center for Responsible Lending.

El presidente Donald Trump, empoderado por el voto de 234 representantes de la Cámara Baja del Congreso estadounidense, firmó esta semana una ley federal que alienta la discriminación racial en el financiamiento de la compra de autos, al bloquear regulaciones impuestas años atrás por la Oficina de Protección Financiera del Consumidor. En enero de este año, Eric Trump dijo: “Mi padre solo ve un color, el verde… él es la persona menos racista que he conocido en toda mi vida”. Lo dijo en defensa del presidente, después de que éste se refiriera a varios países, incluyendo El Salvador, como “hoyos

But some consumer advocates were quick to caution that it remains to be seen how banks will tailor their new offerings - and what the OCC will allow. There's no official cap at a federal level on the interest rates banks can charge, but research has shown that anything above 36% is difficult for most borrowers to afford, said Rebecca Borne, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit group. "The principles like affordability and reasonable pricing are good," Borne said in an interview. "But we are concerned that in a broader deregulatory environment, banks may be

The Center for Responsible Lending, a left-leaning nonprofit, advocates for wide credit access and is calling for highly regulated versions of Fannie and Freddie to be preserved. The group says it’s so unclear what the Trump administration wants that next year is likely to end up looking much like 2018. There’s reason to think Congress might eventually try again, but lawmakers didn’t really get serious about Fannie and Freddie until about five years ago, CRL President Mike Calhoun said. “These major pieces of legislation usually take a decade.’’

"Education alone cannot stop predatory behaviors on the part of for-profit schools and servicers, nor can it help hundreds of thousands of Americans in serious debt because of these practices," said Whitney Barkley-Denney, senior policy counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending.

NPR’s David Greene speaks to Rep. Jeb Hensarling and the Center for Responsible Lending’s Debbie Goldstein about the vote to repeal CFPB guidance meant to protect car buyers from discriminatory loans.

“Although it occurs, it’s rare for people to be openly racist. Most of the discrimination happens in a manner that the only way to prevent it is through disparate impact enforcement,” said Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending. “And if you say no disparate impact enforcement, you’re largely saying no discrimination enforcement at all.”

Mick Mulvaney, President Trump's acting head of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, for example, has been openly contemptuous of the agency he now runs. "We just have seen a general retreat from enforcing the fair lending laws and ensuring that fair housing opportunities are available to everyone," said Melissa Stegman, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending.