Bill Eliminates Critical Consumer Protections and Safeguards Against Another Economic Meltdown
WASHINGTON, DC –The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), along with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, and the National Consumer Law Center, announced opposition to and released an analysis of S. 2155, a harmful financial deregulation bill. The measure, the most significant since Dodd-Frank, is scheduled for markup tomorrow in the Senate Banking Committee. Read the group’s analysis of S. 2155, which focused on the housing portions.
CRL Senior Legislative Counsel Yana Miles released the following statement:
This legislation puts out a welcome mat for the return of poisonous financial practices. This poses a threat to all Americans, especially those in low-income communities and communities of color.
This bill encourages the finance industry to engage in the type of reckless lending that pulled Americans into a Great Recession – just under a decade ago. Among its many dangerous provisions, the bill enables poor underwriting, risky mortgages, deceptively steering consumers into overpriced loans, surprise homeowner costs that make defaults more likely, and appraisal abuses. It also drastically reduces data collection requirements that are essential for serving credit-worthy borrowers in underserved areas.
We’ve seen this movie before. It doesn’t end well for Main Street.
For more information, or to arrange an interview with a CRL spokesperson on this issue, please contact Matthew Kravitz at matthew.kravitz@responsiblelending.org or 202-349-1859.