Press Releases

DURHAM, N.C. – Today the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) released a report analyzing the impact of a 36% interest rate cap on South Dakota following its 2016 passage by ballot measure. The Sky Doesn’t Fall: Life After Payday Lending in South Dakota finds that some South Dakotans are still suffering the harmful consequences of predatory payday lending from before the rate cap was enacted in the form of aggressive debt collections. But much lower cost options for meeting cash shortfalls are available in the state, and the storefronts that once peppered cities and towns have been replaced by

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a new proposed Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule that would reduce the financial pressure local governments, states, and public housing agencies have to meet their fair housing obligations. HUD published its AFFH rule in 2015. In 2018, HUD effectively suspended the rule and removed the AFFH data and mapping tool. The tool was used to access HUD-provided data to conduct the fair housing analysis. The AFFH provision was an integral part of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. In that provision

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced a proposal to reform the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)—the landmark anti-redlining law enacted nine years after the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to stop persistent discrimination in lending. The Federal Reserve, which shares a regulatory oversight role on CRA along with the OCC and FDIC, did not sign the new proposal. Center for Responsible Lending Executive Vice President Nikitra Bailey released the following statement: Created in response to redlining, a

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FUTURE Act, a bill to extend important mandatory funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribally Controlled Colleges or Universities (TCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) that expired in September. The legislation is expected to get the U.S. Senate’s final approval. The bill includes a Senate agreement to permanently reauthorize $255 million for these higher education institutions and the FAFSA Act, a measure that makes it simpler for the Department

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos released a student loan debt relief formula that undercuts defrauded borrowers, particularly those who went to ITT Tech and Corinthian Colleges. The flawed and convoluted methodology, which will be applied to the more than 200,000 outstanding claims pending review by the department, seeks to make it difficult for students to get relief. Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Senior Policy Counsel Ashley Harrington released the following statement: Once again, Secretary DeVos has demonstrated that her goal is to protect predatory

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced today that the University of Phoenix, owned by Apollo Education Group, must pay $191 million to settle federal charges that it used false advertisement to lure its students with job placement promises at major U.S. corporations. The FTC said it was the largest settlement ever reached against a for-profit school. Whitney Barkley-Denney, a senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), released the following statement: University of Phoenix used billions of taxpayer dollars to create an ad campaign based almost

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan agreement to permanently reauthorize $255 million for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). The agreement amends the FUTURE Act, a bill that passed the House in September. The proposal also includes the FAFSA Act, a measure that makes it simpler for the Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to share student tax data. This would help streamline the financial aid

OCC Proposes Rent-a-Bank Rule Today; Proposed Rule is on Agenda for FDIC Meeting on Nov. 19 Washington, D.C. - Advocates reacted with outrage to a new proposal from two federal bank regulators that could make it easier for payday and other high-cost lenders to use banks as a fig leaf so that online lenders can offer predatory loans at interest rates that are prohibited under state law. Online lenders have become increasingly bold in using rent-a-bank schemes to offer loans up to 160% in states where their rates are illegal. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) proposed such a

New legislation would protect people from the financial quicksand of high-interest loans First bill to extend Military Lending Act’s rate cap protection to all Americans Learn more about this map, showing the APR of a typical payday loan in those states without strong interest rate caps. For instance, in Illinois it is 404% and in Wisconsin 574%. WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) announced support for the Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act, which is being introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressmen Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL) and Glenn

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A coalition of 61 consumer, civil rights, and community groups today sent letters to three federal bank regulators urging them not to allow their banks to help payday lenders evade state interest rate limits. The groups sent separate letters to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), which regulates the only banks currently involved in rent-a-bank schemes; the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates a national bank that has been in talks with a payday lender; and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, whose banks so far do not appear to