Press Releases
August 21, 2018
New research from Center for Responsible Lending reveals disproportionate concentration of payday lenders in Michigan rural and low-income neighborhoods and communities of color
DURHAM, N.C. -- Payday lenders have targeted vulnerable Michigan communities, disproportionately locating their stores in communities of color, rural areas, and low-income neighborhoods, according to a new report from the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). Through a business model designed to trap people facing economic hardship in long-term cycles of debt, payday lenders raked in $94 million in 2016 and more...
August 15, 2018
49 Senators Urge CFPB Head Mick Mulvaney to Reverse His Plan to Weaken Protections for Servicemembers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, nearly half the Senate, including Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Jack Reed (R.I.), Banking Committee Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (Ohio), and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), wrote the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), urging it to reverse course on its decision to halt examinations of payday and other lenders for violations of the Military Lending Act (MLA). This letter comes as news reports show the Mick Mulvaney-led CFPB decided...
August 13, 2018
OAKLAND, CALIF. – Today, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in De La Torre v. CashCall, that high-interest rates on loans above $2,500 may be deemed unconscionable, and therefore illegal—even if those loans aren’t subject to statutory rate limits. The case involved plaintiff Eduardo De La Torre, a former student at the University of California Davis, who borrowed $2,600 from CashCall at an interest rate of 98% Annual Percentage Rate (APR). The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) co-authored an amicus brief urging the Court to rule that the high-rate of a loan...
August 10, 2018
BREAKING: Illegally Overcharging Military Servicemembers to be Easier As CFPB to Stop Supervision of Lenders
Center for Responsible Lending raises alarm that military families may be re-exposed to predatory lenders because of another move by Mick Mulvaney
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This evening, the New York Times reports that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will no longer supervise financial institutions to ensure they are complying with the Military Lending Act (MLA), a law that protects active duty servicemembers from predatory financial practices. The MLA prevents...
July 31, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Voters of all political parties overwhelmingly oppose the actions taken by Mick Mulvaney to undermine the mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and feel a strong connection between lax enforcement of the rules on Wall Street and their daily welfare, according to a new poll release by Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL).
Ten years after the 2008 financial crisis brought on a searing recession, the survey revealed enduring, strong, and bipartisan support for tougher regulation of Wall Street and predatory...
July 31, 2018
Report Calls for Repeal of CFPB’s Payday Rule and Override of State Laws
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Treasury issued a new report calling for broad deregulation of nonbank lenders, including financial technology (fintech) firms. Specifically, the report endorses the repeal of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Payday Rule, the creation of special federal bank charters for fintech firms, regulatory “sandboxes” that exempt startups from certain consumer protection laws, and federal preemption of state consumer protection laws. These recommendations fly in...
July 30, 2018
DURHAM, N.C. – A new Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) report reveals financial distress among participants of Colorado focus groups who have taken out longer-term payday loans that are touted by payday lenders as a better, more affordable option than traditional short-term (often two-week) payday loans. Colorado banned short-term payday loans in 2010. Participants stuck in long-term payday loans described difficulty paying bills and faced aggressive debt collection. The hardest hit were those experiencing delinquency or default, which currently happens with one in four Colorado payday...
June 29, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A bipartisan coalition of Attorneys General from 19 states plus D.C. asserted their states’ authority to protect consumers from financial abuse yesterday in a letter opposing two bills being considered in Congress that would allow lenders to sidestep state consumer protection laws.
HR 3299 and HR 4439 would override state interest rate caps by authorizing sham relationships between banks and predatory lenders. Though the bills are being pushed under the guise of promoting “fintech,” their passage would open the flood gates to predatory lending with annual...
June 12, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) applauds a federal court ruling out of Texas, which rejected a Joint Motion by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the payday lenders that was intended to delay the compliance date for the CFPB’s Payday Rule. The CFPB is currently led by Mick Mulvaney, who was unlawfully installed as “Acting Director” by President Trump.
Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Litigation Counsel Will Corbett issued the following statement:
Mick Mulvaney and the payday lenders tried an end-run around the law and it was rightly...
June 1, 2018
AB 2500 would have been a historic step forward to help distressed Californians from falling victims to abusive predatory lending
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – Last night, several members of the California Assembly succumbed to industry pressure and voted down AB 2500, the Safe Consumer Lending Act, a bill introduced by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) to protect California families from abusive high-cost installment loans, including those made by car title lenders. Had it passed, the legislation would have substantially reduced the costs of consumer loans that are between $2,500 to $5,000. AB...