CRL in the News

"Payday loans are dangerous and unaffordable for everyone, but borrowers who are just starting out or who are struggling financially — they're the most vulnerable," Lisa Stifler, deputy director of state policy for the Center for Responsible Lending, tells CNBC Make It.

Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending will release survey results Tuesday showing that an overwhelming majority of Americans — at least 80% — are concerned about the Trump administration’s recent efforts to curb oversight of banks and payday lenders, and the possible shutdown of a database of consumer complaints.

“There’s a huge amount of public support for the rule and no congressional action or appetite for repealing the rule,” said Scott Astrada, director of federal advocacy for the Center for Responsible Lending.

In 2013, the state created a small-dollar loan program to regulate loans between $300 and $2,500. The state caps interest on those loans between 20 and 30 percent, but any loan above $2,500 is the “real Wild, Wild West,” said Graciela Aponte-Diaz, California policy director at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit focused on consumer lending.

A coalition of financial sector watchdog groups and advocates for stronger consumer protection laws also condemned the OCC's announcement, including the Center for Responsible Lending, Americans for Financial Reform, National Consumer Law Center and Consumer Federation of America.

Per release out this a.m.: “A new survey, released today by Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending, found voters oppose actions taken by the agency’s new leadership to undermine its mission. “Strong majorities across parties disagree with [Acting CFPB Director Mick] Mulvaney’s actions on lending discrimination, payday lending, and consumer complaints -- and they believe lax enforcement of the rules affects them personally."

According to the Chicago Tribune, Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending are planning to release a survey that shows at least 80 percent of Americans are concerned by Trump’s recent efforts to limit oversight of banks and payday lenders, and potentially shut down the database of consumer complaints. What’s more, the survey is expected to show that a high percentage of Americans are concerned about reduced regulatory oversight of racial discrimination among lenders, more cozy relationships between government officials and industry lobbyists, and laws that will

“This report calls for expanding debt traps and ripping up consumer protections at the state and federal levels," said Scott Astrada, a director for the Center for Responsible Lending. “Consumer protection laws are critical to safeguarding Americans’ wallets. They should be upheld, and this report should be roundly rejected.”

"The poll makes clear that consumers want the CFPB to protect them from abusive predatory lenders, and they want the agency’s work to continue without interference,” said Mike Calhoun, president of CRL. “For too long payday lenders have drowned Americans in unaffordable, crippling debt that often leads to damaged credit, inability to pay for daily expenses, and even bankruptcy. Before Mick Mulvaney’s tenure at the agency, the CFPB was a champion for working families—giving back billions of dollars in relief to consumers who were cheated by financial companies. Now, under the CFPB’s current

Congress failed to repeal the rule when it had the chance due in part to public support for the regulation, but the Treasury Department’s added push to rescind the rule could give the CFPB under Mulvaney additional cover to do so, Scott Astrada, the federal advocacy director at the Center for Responsible Lending, told Bloomberg Law.