Press Releases
September 28, 2018
Center for Responsible Lending warns policymakers against giving companies a “Get Out of Jail Free” card
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today at approximately 9 a.m. ET, the Center for Responsible Lending’s (CRL) Director of Federal Advocacy, Scott Astrada, will testify before the House Financial Services Committee’s Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee for a hearing entitled: Examining Opportunities for Financial Markets in the Digital Era. In the hearing, the committee and its witnesses will discuss a recent U.S. Department of Treasury report on financial technology (fintech),...
September 26, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, September 28, at approximately 9 a.m. ET, the Center for Responsible Lending’s (CRL) Director of Federal Advocacy, Scott Astrada, will testify before the House Financial Services Committee’s Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee for a hearing entitled: Examining Opportunities for Financial Markets in the Digital Era. In the hearing, the committee and its witnesses will discuss a recent U.S. Department of Treasury report on financial technology (fintech), which was released in July.
CRL has heavily criticized the Treasury report because of its...
August 28, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to seek public input on how the agency should update Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) procedures. A coalition of civil rights and consumer advocacy organizations has signaled to the OCC that any changes to the CRA must strengthen -- not weaken -- banks’ obligation to meet the needs of low-income communities and communities of color and that changes must result in expanded access to credit in historically redlined areas.
The CRA is a fair lending law...
July 18, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Kathy Kraninger, the current Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Associate Director and President Donald Trump’s nominee for Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), is scheduled to have her nomination hearing tomorrow before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Prior to her role at OMB, Kraninger's experience in the federal government has been focused on security issues, having worked at the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee. Throughout her government career, Kraninger has had limited...
July 9, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On July 9, 2018, Brett Kavanaugh, a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was nominated to be the next associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2016, Kavanaugh authored an opinion for a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit considering an appeal of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) enforcement order in PHH Corporation vs. CFPB. The CFPB had found that PHH, a non-bank mortgage lender, had violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), which generally...
July 6, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Senior Legislative Counsel Yana Miles released the following statement today regarding Leandra English's decision to step down as Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB):
"Leandra English is a revered public servant with a history of prioritizing consumer protection. Throughout her tenure at the CFPB, even before becoming Acting Director, she worked to significantly improve the lives of people across the country, especially in communities of color. With her help, the agency...
June 21, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, a federal district court judge in New York wrongly sided with RD Legal, a company that was sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for scamming 9/11 first responders out of millions of dollars in compensation funds. The judge claimed that the CFPB is unconstitutionally structured and should not be in existence. The impact of the district court’s decision is unclear, but this extreme ruling disregards the holding of the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the agency’s constitutionality.
Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Litigation...
June 17, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Trump Administration has announced its plan to nominate Kathy Kraninger, an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) official, to be the next Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Prior to her role at OMB, Kraninger's experience in the federal government has been focused on homeland security issues, having worked at the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee. Throughout her government career, Kraninger has had limited to no experience in consumer protection. Last November, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney was...
June 13, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, during a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee, the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Joseph Otting was repeatedly asked if he believes discrimination exists in America. He replied that he had never personally observed it, though he had heard about it from others. This is surprising given that discrimination in financial services has a well-documented past and present. Otting has had a long career in the banking industry and as Comptroller of the Currency, has a responsibility to help root out lending discrimination, so his...
June 6, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Center for Responsible Lending Executive Vice President Debbie Goldstein released the following the statement after it was reported that Mick Mulvaney, who was unlawfully appointed to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), announced his plan to dismantle the membership of the agency's Consumer Advisory Board (CAB).
This reckless decision to dismiss the members of the Consumer Advisory Board shows the level of disdain Mick Mulvaney has for consumer protection and it demonstrates his inability to lead both the CFPB and the Office of Management and...