CRL in the News

In 2016, Donald Trump slithered into the White House by pitching himself as the guy who would save the working class. That pitch, obviously, turned to be a classic Trump scam, given that the former real-estate developer’s “accomplishments” in the past two years have included passing a giant tax cut that disproportionately benefits corporations and the uber-rich; sabotaging the Affordable Care Act; weakening labor rules; and, most recently, forcing 800,000 federal workers to go without pay for more than a month while trotting out his own personal Mr. Burns to tell said workers to “ take out a

La Oficina de Protección al Consumidor Financiero (CFPB) ha propuesto eliminar la obligatoriedad de que los prestamistas verifiquen la capacidad de un cliente para devolver un crédito de tipo payday (préstamo del día de pago) y contra los títulos de propiedad de carros (car title lending). El CFPB, bajo la dirección de Kathy Kraninger, cree que no hay “pruebas suficientes ni apoyo legal para las provisiones de seguro de riesgo obligatorio” que, sin embargo, son estándares en otros préstamos. Estas provisiones se incorporaron a la regulación final de 2017 relativa a este tipo préstamos de bajas

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Wednesday proposed striking certain borrower safeguards from a 2017 regulation on short-term, high-interest loans. The bureau on Wednesday kicked off a proposal to loosen the bureau’s rule on “payday” loans, a measure meant to protect vulnerable consumers from bottomless debt.

In what progressive lawmakers and advocacy groups decried as the Trump administration's latest " shameful" attack on vulnerable families, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) unveiled a plan on Wednesday that would gut regulations protecting consumers from predatory payday lenders.

NEW YORK — The nation’s federal financial watchdog said Wednesday that it plans to abolish most of its critical consumer protections governing payday lenders. The move is a major win for the payday lending industry, which argued the government’s regulations could kill off a large chunk of its business. It’s also a big loss for consumer groups, who say payday lenders exploit the poor and disadvantaged with loans that have annual interest rates as much as 400 percent.

The nation’s new consumer financial watchdog proposed Wednesday to significantly water down tough pending rules on payday and other short-term loans designed to prevent lenders from taking advantage of cash-strapped Americans. The proposal by Kathy Kraninger, who became director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in December after being nominated by President Trump, would eliminate key provisions requiring lenders to determine whether borrowers can repay the short-term loans. Financial industry officials have pushed to change the rules and cheered the announcement. Consumer advocates

REFINANCING STUDENT loans can save you money under the right circumstances. It could be helpful to score a lower interest rate, to change from a variable interest rate to a fixed rate, to consolidate your loans for a single monthly payment, or to release a co-signer. At the same time, you could lose protections and benefits from your original student loan. Before you refinance, make sure you understand your choices, including any trade-offs.

Students attending for-profit colleges continue to be less likely to graduate than their counterparts at public institutions, the Center for Responsible Lending says. The center has analyzed government data that show students from for-profit higher education institutions carry more debt regardless of whether they graduate, and they default on that debt at higher rates.

THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU penalized a man $1 this week, for illegally exchanging veterans’ pensions for high-interest “cash advances.” Mark Corbett claimed in sworn statements to the bureau that he had an inability to pay any fine of greater value, and the bureau accepted $1 as payment for making illegal, high-cost loans to former members of the armed forces. Somehow, two other state regulatory agencies, in Arkansas and South Carolina, assisted in the extraction of a single dollar bill from Corbett.

CRL's Scott Astrada discusses how the financial stress of the government shutdown may lead furloughed federal employees to take out high-cost predatory loans to try to make ends meet.