Press Releases

Measure would end abusive 400% interest Washington - A measure introduced in the U.S. Senate yesterday would speed economic recovery efforts by ending high-interest credit schemes that trap working families in a quagmire of debt. The bill from Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), majority whip of the Senate, would cap annual interest rates on consumer credit at 36 percent-a cap that...

More analysis of the Housing Plan >> The housing plan announced today represents a huge step forward for the entire country, and includes responsible and effective actions to reduce the massive foreclosures that triggered today's economic crisis. It represents an essential and overdue investment in correcting the results of bad lending and poor risk management. And it will benefit households...

We will not effectively stabilize the nation's banks and financial system until we stop the wave of foreclosures that continues to drive down the economy and harm millions of families. At least 8 million families risk losing their homes to foreclosure in the next four years. These foreclosures drive down the value of all homes, and in turn prevent a...

No one likes overdraft fees: Who wants to pay $34 for a $5 hamburger? The public has until a March 30 deadline to tell banking regulators at the Federal Reserve Board whether a) banks should be required to let customers "opt in" to these high-cost lending programs or b) be allowed to continue automatically signing them up? Only the first...

The foreclosure epidemic that ignited today's economic crisis continues unabated, as illustrated by new up-to-the-second figures released by the Center for Responsible Lending. CRL's website, http://www.responsiblelending.org/mortgage-lending/tools-resources/nati… , now displays a constantly updated counter showing new foreclosure starts this year for the nation and also by state. The counter is based on data collected by the Mortgage Bankers Association and adjusted...

The federal Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) has failed in its responsibility to oversee the nation's thrift institutions and protect the public from reckless lending practices, according to a new report released today by the Center for Responsible Lending. Read The Second S&L Scandal: How OTS allowed reckless and unfair lending to fleece homeowners and cripple the nation's savings and...

The subprime market for home loans has dried up for now, but the bad subprime loans made at the height of the mortgage bubble continue to damage neighborhoods and drown the economy in foreclosures. New information in a Center for Responsible Lending report provides a fresh, grim snapshot of the spreading negative effects of subprime mortgages that were aggressively marketed...

Federal banking regulators yesterday withdrew proposed rules that would have largely failed to protect consumers from astronomically high-cost, unsolicited overdraft loans. The Fed then immediately issued a new proposal containing two alternative approaches. The impact the new proposal will have on abusive fees depends primarily on which approach the Fed ultimately chooses. Consumers pay $17.5 billion per year in overdraft...

"Today in Washington, several groups issued updates on mortgage performance and the success of attempts to repair distressed home loans. These reports show we are still losing the battle to stop the continuing epidemic of foreclosures at the root of the growing economic crisis. The proverbial vicious cycle continues as these foreclosures, in turn, continue to batter our economy and...

Federal regulators issued credit card rules today that take a significant and welcome step to curb some of the industry's most unfair and abusive practices. Unfortunately, implementation of the rules won't take effect for 18 months and, in several key respects, don't go far enough to protect consumers. "Protecting consumers from the costly credit card practices that drain their wallets...