CRL in the News

A coalition of consumer and labor groups is challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposal to ease an Obama-era restriction on payday lenders, using language that suggests there are legal grounds to block the new rule. CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger in February introduced the bureau’s proposed plan to effectively unwind regulation imposing underwriting standards on payday lenders, which was originally supposed to go into effect Aug. 19. The proposed rule has been championed by payday and auto title lenders but opposed by consumer groups.

While the 2020 hopefuls have been focused on introducing new legislation, the current administration is working to reverse some existing laws. For example, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ― an organization established in the wake of the Great Recession to serve as a consumer watchdog ― might soon roll back some Obama-era rules surrounding payday lenders. The Trump administration, which happens to have a rather cozy relationship with the payday lending industry, recently appointed a new CFPB chief who said the current underwriting standards make it difficult for consumers to access

Seven out of 10 GOP primary voters are sympathetic to the main ideas of the Loan Shark Prevention Act introduced last week by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, according to a Business Insider poll. The legislative proposal would cap the interest rates that credit card companies and payday lenders can charge consumers at 15 percent. The surprising show of support from GOP voters for the goals of the bill suggests that the base of support for efforts to rein in loan sharks crosses party lines in ways that leaders of the Republican Party may be reluctant to admit. In addition

Last week, the Maine House voted on party lines to pass LD 103, which would direct the Department of Education to conduct a review of for-profit colleges and universities to determine whether adequate educational standards are being met. If the for-profit college is not meeting the standards, the state would be authorized to revoke the degree-granting authority of the college. For-profit colleges, like their nonprofit counterparts, would also be required to report various metrics including how much money is spent on instruction, graduation rates, loan status of graduates, employment status of

Ramping up his latest push for the White House, Bernie Sanders is taking aim at high interest rates on credit cards and payday loans. The Vermont senator introduced legislation in May 2019 — along with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — that would cap both rates at 15%. Payday loans are small-dollar advances designed to provide emergency funds. They are typically due in full on the borrower’s next payday. Critics say these operators take unfair advantage of those in financial distress with exorbitantly high interest rates.

The battle over payday lending — specifically, how tough U.S. federal rule will be in governing the industry — is heating up as an important deadline looms. Letters favorable to the payday lending industry reportedly are flooding in to authorities before the May 15 cutoff for public comment regarding a proposed policy change. At issue are payday lending rules from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). They were drafted under the tenure of Richard Cordray, who had served as the previous director of that agency. The Obama-era appointee sought to put in place new underwriting

WASHINGTON – Rep. Patrick McHenry has been representing western North Carolina in the U.S. House since he was 29 years old. The 10th District Republican, now 43, has long been considered a rising star among House GOP lawmakers. He’s worked in leadership as Republicans’ chief deputy whip, and he’s often labeled as an aspiring Speaker of the House. He’s got a lifetime rating of 93 percent from the American Conservative Union. Now, he’s got a new platform: adversary-in-chief to House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters.

Lawmakers have introduced a bill that would make it easier for student loan borrowers to cancel their debt in bankruptcy. The measure, which is supported by 14 Democrats, one Republican and one independent, is dubbed the Student Borrower Bankruptcy Relief Act of 2019. “Americans struggling financially should have the option to discharge their student loans during bankruptcy as a last resort,” said John Katko, R-New York. “This bipartisan legislation makes that change.” A number of consumer advocacy groups, including Americans for Financial Reform, the National Consumer Law Center and the

People at their most desperate are at their most vulnerable. In an economy that’s booming, the wealth gap should be shrinking, not widening. Climbing the economic ladder for the working poor, especially for blacks and Latinos, is being threatened by payday loan lenders eager to exploit the situation with the help of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Earlier this year in a contradiction of its very name, CFPB announced it would protect predatory lenders and not consumers. Instead of executing the first comprehensive federal rule that would curtail these lenders’ debt traps by

On Thursday, New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced her first official bill in the United State Congress: the Loan Shark Prevention Act, which would limit the interest rate on all consumer loans to 15 percent. (Over in the Senate, Vermont senator and Democratic 2020 hopeful Bernie Sanders unveiled an identical proposal.) Enacting the measure into law would have two primary effects: First, it would force most credit card companies to lower the rates their customers currently pay. Second, and most importantly, it would wipe the payday lending industry off the map.