Press Releases
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 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 21, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Office of Management and Budget released a report entitled, “Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century: Reform Plan and Reorganization Recommendations.” This 132-page document details an unprecedented and broad reorganization across many federal agencies. The proposal also addresses the future of mortgage finance, specifically how two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will function.
The report notes that these entities have remained under government control since 2008. The proposal would end the government...
June 19, 2018
Today Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released its annual report, The State of the Nation’s Housing 2018. Published annually since 1988, this year’s report again identifies trends and changes in housing. Key to this year’s findings are:
A growing income inequality where the cost of housing has outpaced growth in income, particularly for young and lower-income households;
A persistent and worsening racial gap in homeownership, especially between black and white consumers; and
The burgeoning impacts of the nation’s still-growing student loan debt that...
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 14, 2018
OAKLAND, CALIF. – Today at a press conference, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced a settlement of $67 million in debt relief for former California students of Corinthian Colleges. The for-profit college, which the federal government shut down four years ago, was a higher education predatory institution that targeted African Americans and Latinos.
Attorney General Becerra’s announcement comes as the U.S. Department of Education is rolling back important safeguards to protect students from the student loan debt crisis.
Center for Responsible Lending Government...
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 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 7, 2018
Numbers Confirm Abysmal Outcomes While Focus Groups Reveal the Human Impact of Bad Federal Education Policy; State Action Crucial
DURHAM, N.C. – A new Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) research report finds that students who enroll in healthcare support programs at for-profit schools end up carrying much more debt relative to their earnings than do their peers in similar public programs. Tuition and fees for these for-profit programs can exceed $17,000 for an 11-month program, an amount that may seem worth it when the marketing materials of for-profit colleges greatly exaggerate the...
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...