Press Releases
May 17, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions—S.J. Res 56 and H.J. Res 122—to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB or consumer bureau) payday and car title lending rule will not advance in Congress, as their legislative clock has expired. The CFPB rule, finalized in October, establishes basic consumer protections on these 300% or more interest loans, including the common sense standard that lenders should have to verify a borrower’s ability to repay before making the loan. Consumer and civil rights advocates are urging the consumer bureau to keep intact the...
May 10, 2018
SB 818 would renew mortgage and foreclosure safeguards, such as the right to appeal when a loan modification application is denied.
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – Today, the California Senate passed SB 818, a bill to restore key provisions in California’s landmark “Homeowner’s Bill of Rights” (HBOR) legislation which passed in 2012 in response to the foreclosure crisis. HBOR has prevented thousands of avoidable foreclosures by requiring mortgage loan servicers to engage in timely, fair and transparent process with struggling homeowners before proceeding to foreclosure. The bill’s sponsor is Senator...
May 10, 2018
Savings Figures Could Flip to Fee Drain if Federal Threats to NC Consumer Protections Are Realized
DURHAM, N.C. – A new Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) analysis breaks down the $457 million that North Carolinians save each year through an interest rate cap on predatory payday and car title loans, calculating the fees that residents of each county and Congressional district would lose without that protection.
North Carolina enjoys strong protections against triple-digit interest loans that are designed to trap cash-strapped families in long-term debt. Payday loans were legal for...
April 9, 2018
Payday lenders’ legal challenge to important CFPB protections would keep working families stuck in crippling debt traps
WASHINGTON, D.C. – By filing a legal challenge to an important Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Consumer Bureau) rule, payday lenders are seeking to avoid consumer protections against harmful business models that keep distressed borrowers in a cycle of debt, members of the Stop the Debt Trap coalition said today.
Led by the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) and the Consumer Service Alliance of Texas, the payday lending industry...
April 4, 2018
SB 818 would renew mortgage and foreclosure protections, such as the right to appeal when a loan modification application is denied.
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – The California Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee has voted to pass SB 818, a bill to restore key provisions in California’s landmark “Homeowner’s Bill of Rights” (HBOR) legislation which passed in 2012 in response to the foreclosure crisis. HBOR has prevented thousands of avoidable foreclosures by requiring mortgage loan servicers to engage in timely, fair and transparent process with struggling homeowners before...
April 3, 2018
AB 2500 Received Seven Votes Out of Committee With No Opposition
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - The California Assembly Committee on Banking and Finance has voted to pass AB 2500, the Safe Consumer Lending Act. The bill, brought forward by Assemblymember Ash Kalra’s (D-San Jose), and principal co-authors Senator Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) and Senator Steven Bradford (D-Los Angeles), would protect California families from abusive high-cost installment loans, including those made by car title lenders. The legislation would drastically reduce the costs of consumer loans between $2,500 to $5,000...
March 29, 2018
Bill to stop predatory lending is set for committee vote on Monday, April 2.
OAKLAND, CALIF. – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), African American Methodist Episcopal Church - 5th Episcopal District, Asian Law Alliance, Coalition for Humane and Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), UnidosUS, and Western Center on Poverty, with support from 99 California consumer, faith, and civil rights organizations, and cities throughout the state are urging the Assembly Committee on Banking and Finance, to support AB 2500, the Safe Consumer Lending Act. The bill would protect California families from...
March 23, 2018
Trump’s Pick at Consumer Bureau Will Not Pursue Abusive Payday Loan Debt Collector, Might Do Same for Three Other Payday Lending Companies
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Reuters published a report, "Exclusive: Trump official quietly drops payday loan case, mulls others – sources," that provides additional evidence that Trump's unlawfully appointed Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Mick Mulvaney is giving predatory payday lenders a free pass. Specifically, National Credit Adjusters, a debt collector for payday loan companies, confirmed that a pending case against the...
March 23, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution, S.J. Res. 56, which would repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule to stop payday and car title loan debt traps and prevent the CFPB from ever issuing a similar rule. The CFPB rule, finalized in October, established basic consumer protections, including the commonsense standard that lenders should have to verify a borrower’s ability to repay before making the loan.
Center for Responsible Lending Federal Advocacy Director Scott Astrada issued the following...
February 21, 2018
Payday lenders strip $50 million per year from Colorado economy
DENVER, CO – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) released a report today showing that payday lenders charge Coloradans an average of $119 in fees and interest to borrow $392, with an average annual percentage rate (APR) of 129%. This practice strips $50 million per year from low-income Coloradans. The report analyzed data published by the Colorado Attorney General’s office.
Also today, a proposed initiative for the November ballot that would cap payday lending rates at 36% comes before the Colorado Initiatives and...