CRL in the News

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's decision to stop examining financial firms for compliance with the Military Lending Act has sparked pushback not only from lawmakers and consumer advocates but also from the Defense Department and every major group representing military service members. Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney's claim that the Dodd-Frank Act does not give the bureau statutory authority to enforce the Military Lending Act is a major reversal from the Obama administration. As reported by several news outlets, Mulvaney has argued further legislation is needed to provide that

Thousands of Marriott workers around the country are on strike, complaining that stagnant wages and unsteady hours have made it difficult to stay afloat. At a time when they are under particular pressure, the credit union may be adding to their struggles. Overdraft fees in particular have provoked controversy within the credit union world. “We have a hard time taking seriously any depository institution claim to trying to serve the underserved, making credit available to financially distressed people and charging those same people $30 to $35 for overdraft,” said Rebecca Borné, senior policy

How much has the market learned from the financial crisis a decade back? And are we prepared for the next crisis? Looking specifically at the housing market, Michael Calhoun, President of the Brookings Center for Responsible Lending said in a recent paper that while regulatory safeguards that were put in place subsequent to the crisis have made today’s housing market much safer and resilient, “more could have been done to aid homeowners in the crisis and work remains to provide families with sufficient affordable, sustainable housing for today and in the coming years.”

Last October, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its payday and car-title lending rule. The agency, under the leadership of Richard Cordray, spent five years developing these safeguards, which included input from lenders, faith leaders, veteran and military organizations, civil rights groups, consumer advocates, and constituents from across the country. This was the first time that a federal agency rolled out substantive protections to help stop payday lenders from trapping families in unaffordable debt. But over the past year, predatory payday lenders have spearheaded an effort

When LendMark started offering subprime loans to California residents a few years ago, it noticed something odd: a vast and growing number of big loans offered by rival firms at interest rates of 100% or higher, and relatively few smaller, cheaper loans. To executives at the suburban Atlanta company, which entered the state by buying loan storefronts from a competitor, it didn’t make sense. Though discussions are still in the early stages, Graciela Aponte-Diaz of the Center for Responsible Lending said she’d like to see the measure include a cap of 36% for loans of up to $5,000 and a lower cap

U.S. Bank recently introduced a new small-dollar loan product. By the bank’s own description, it’s a high-cost product, at 70-88% APR. High-cost loans by banks offer a mirage of respectability. A component of this illusion is the misguided idea that limiting payment size to 5% of gross income means the loan is affordable for most borrowers. But these products will be unaffordable for many borrowers and ultimately erode protections from predatory lending across the board.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed three bills Sunday that could have a sizable impact on banks and other lenders in the nation’s most populous state. The most prominent of the three requires publicly traded companies that are headquartered in California to add more women to their boards. Brown also signed legislation imposing new disclosure requirements for certain small-business loans by nonbanks, as well as a bill expanding a voluntary program that aims to encourage consumer loans that are more borrower-friendly than many of the products available today.

As Congress struggles over how best to regulate fintech companies, credit unions on Friday renewed their call for a regulatory regime that is as strict as the one they must follow. The emergence of new financial products should not lead to a loosening of consumer protections, Scott Astrada, director of federal Advocacy at the Center for Responsible Lending, told the subcommittee. He said, for instance, a special purpose non-bank charter could enable preemption of state oversight. He added that fintech companies should not be permitted to ignore consumer protection laws as they test their

Uncertainty around the legal and regulatory status of loans made through bank partnerships with financial technology firms is an obstacle to innovation and greater credit availability and should be cleared up legislatively, a panel of U.S. House lawmakers heard Friday.

Consumer advocates for years have decried payday loans as a costly way to borrow and one that keeps people trapped in a cycle of high-interest debt. The howls of protest could grow louder now than a major bank has stepped forward with a similar product.