Why minority-owned businesses are struggling to get PPP loans

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Ivette Feliciano & Connie Kargbo | PBS News Hour
The Paycheck Protection Program or PPP provides federally-backed forgivable loans to businesses whose revenues may be impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. According to the Center for Responsible Lending, little of the $659 billion fund has made it to Latino and Black-owned businesses, despite being the communities hit hardest by the crisis. NewsHour Weekend’s Ivette Feliciano reports.

‘You have a degree, but who do you know?’ Why student debt is a racial-justice issue

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Jillian Berman | Market Watch
This systemic racism in the credit and wealth-building systems compound the problem, said Ashley Harrington, the federal policy director at the Center for Responsible Lending. For example, in 2012 the Obama administration tightened credit standards for parents to access the PLUS loans, a federal loan program parents can use to pay for their kids’ college. That change meant the government would look at a parent’s credit history in the five years leading up to when they planned to borrow for certain adverse events. Those five years overlapped with the subprime mortgage crisis, which

The next COVID-19 relief bill must include student debt cancellation

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Brookings
The CARES Act provided important temporary relief for student loan borrowers, permitting many with federally held debt to skip payments for 6 months, with borrowers generally given credit towards forgiveness for those payments. The legislation halted collections, though a significant number of borrowers were excluded. However, given the severity of the COVID-19 economic impacts, and the dire circumstances for many student loan borrowers, more comprehensive and long-term student debt relief is required to enable these families to recover.

Black businesses hit hard by COVID-19 fight to stay afloat

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Kat Stafford | Associated Press
But the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit group that works to end predatory lending practices aimed at low-income communities, said challenges remain. “This is just a new public health crisis and economic crisis that is coming after so many decades and centuries of structural inequality,” said Ashley Harrington, the center’s federal advocacy director and senior counsel.

Center for Responsible Lending virtual town hall focuses on COVID-19 and economic relief

The Center for Responsible Lending hosted a discussion panel to address the impact of COVID-19 on various financial sectors as it relates to Black Americans on Monday evening. The virtual town hall, moderated by White House Correspondent and CNN Political Analyst April Ryan, focused primarily on the areas of small businesses, housing and student loans with a particular emphasis on minority and Black communities.

Industry watchers predict surge in payday lending

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Jeniffer Solis | Nevada Current
Critics of the industry say the loans are designed to trap borrowers into a cycle of debt. Nearly 20 states have capped rates on payday loans, but lawmakers have rejected efforts to cap the high interest loans in the Silver State, where the industry has contributed generously to politicians. The Center for Responsible Lending reports that the typical annualized percentage interest on a payday loan in Nevada is 652 percent.

During COVID-19, Some Student Loan Borrowers Find Temporary Relief

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Stacia Brown, Frank Stasio & Liz Schlemmer | WUNC
Host Frank Stasio talks about the landscape of student loan debt during COVID-19 and beyond with WUNC education reporter Liz Schlemmer; Rochelle Sparko, director for NC Policy at the Center for Responsible Lending; and Trey Roberts, a first-generation college graduate and co-founder of Raleigh Pride.