CRL in the News
Bank fees have gotten way out of hand — so much so that they now account for more than a third of revenue for an industry that once made its cash almost exclusively by lending money to customers.
And the worst of the worst are overdraft fees. They’re little more than cash grabs, serving no purpose but to fatten bankers’ already bulging pockets.
It’s time lawmakers put a halt to the practice. Or, barring that, we should follow the example of Britain, which just placed limits on how much can be charged by banks for exceeding available funds.
As Orlando-area rents continue to climb, a major bank is offering a pair of home-buyer grants that could help low- and moderate-income residents make the leap to ownership.
This week the region became one of 49 national markets targeted by Bank of America for a five-year, $5 billion affordable home ownership initiative. The effort provides eligible home buyers a down-payment grant of 3 percent of the home’s purchase price — up to $10,000 — and a separate lender credit of up to $7,500 that can cover one-time fees or be used to buy down the loan’s interest rate.
Are more $38 cups of coffee on the horizon?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has opened a review of the decade-old federal “overdraft rule,” which regulates how banks charge fees when their customers spend more than what is in their checking accounts.
On Saturday mornings, locals shuffle through the ACE Cash Express at 16th and Mission in San Francisco, greeting one another in Spanish, if at all. The storefront signage — “Fast Loans Prestamos” — is unremarkable here, between pentecostal churches and stands of Tajin-salted mango.
The rate of Black homeownership in America – now at 41.1 percent, according to 2019 U. S. Census numbers – is even lower than it was when the U. S. Fair Housing Act was signed into law 51 years ago on April 11, 1968.
This means Black homeownership is 32.1 percentage points lower than that of Whites, which stands at 73.2 percent. It also means Black homeownership is 6.3 percentage points lower than that of Latino-Americans, which stands at 47.4 percent.
The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau changed its tune on payday loans when the country changed presidents. The Center for Responsible Lendingnoticed.
CRL's Ezekiel Gorrocino visits with details of the current situation with payday loans.
WASHINGTON — When the Federal Housing Finance Agency opened a fair-lending monitoring office last August, there was little fanfare. But the launch of the Office of Fair Lending Oversight stood in contrast to different moves by officials elsewhere in the Trump administration.
After over a decade of stagnation, the race is finally on to release mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government control and reshape the housing finance system.
In her first four and a half months on the job, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger was no stranger to Capitol Hill, holding in-person meetings with lawmakers more than twice as often as her predecessor did during a similar time frame.
Hannah Hudson was one of the few high school graduates lucky enough to take a European summer vacation before the long slog of adulthood.
Little did she know, she’d spend a half-day wondering how to cover her next meal after a series of overdraft fees from Bank of America left her more than $100 in debt. Halfway around the globe and nine hours ahead of California, Hudson was unable to contact financial reinforcements with her parents fast asleep in Orangevale.