Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The high burden of student loan debt limits the future financial options of graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and breaks the promise of a college education as a great equalizer, according to a new research report published today by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). The report, “Paying from the Grave,” highlights the impacts...

Washington, D.C. – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) today expressed support for the Protecting Wages of Essential Workers Act of 2022 (Protecting Wages Act). The bill will ensure that working Americans who hold consumer debt are not hit with excessive wage seizures that leave them unable to afford necessities. The legislation also prohibits...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal appeals court last week temporarily stopped the Biden administration’s student debt cancellation plan, which is set to provide up to $20,000 in relief to eligible graduates from the nation’s more than 44 million student loan borrowers. In response, Jaylon Herbin, outreach and policy manager for the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), made the following statement...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) funding structure was unconstitutional, Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), issued the following statement: The court’s misguided opinion would stop the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from providing critical protections for...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today at 10:45 am ET at the House Triangle, and live-streamed on the Center for Responsible Lending’s Facebook page, Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and affected small business owners will call attention to the financial devastation more than 300,000 American small businesses are now facing due to unforgiven PPP loans totaling more than $3.7 billion, and to demand...

WASHINGTON – Today, small business owners (full statements below) from Illinois, Texas, Maryland, California, Washington, and North Carolina joined with U.S. Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC), and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and Small Business Majority (SBM) to Demand the Small Business Administration (SBA) reform the “good faith error” rule, one of more than 60...

CRL: 85 percent of survey respondents suffer negative consequences from larger, longer-term loans with triple-digit interest WASHINGTON, DC – High-cost installment loans, taking a rising share of the lending market over the past decade, often compound borrowers’ financial problems, according to new research released today by the Center for Responsible Lending. The report, “ Unsafe Harbor: The Persistent Harms of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The market for personal loans is massive and growing, yet the fintechs and other non-bank lenders who make such loans are not subject to regular oversight by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which has “created an unlevel playing field and a large risk to consumers,” write the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) and the Center for Responsible...

Washington, D.C. — The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), American Business Immigrant Coalition (ABIC), and more than 20 consumer, civil rights and advocacy groups and lenders, recently submitted a letter urging the U.S. Treasury Department and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to reverse the Good Faith Error Rule that has prevented more than 300,000 small business owners from obtaining forgiveness...

400% Interest Payday Loans Lead Borrowers into Long-Term Debt Trap DURHAM, NC – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) today released the first episode of its “In Focus” video series, designed to break down complex financial issues and make them easier to understand. In the series, CRL financial experts will help people recognize and prevent financial exploitation, to promote financial...