Press Releases

Voters from across the political spectrum are deeply concerned about payday lending including loans with interest rates that average 300 percent. Republicans, Democrats and Independents also feel strongly that payday and car title lenders should be required to follow the same kinds of responsible lending practices as banks and other for-profit lenders, according to a new, bipartisan national poll sponsored by the Center for Responsible Lending. The poll comes at a time when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is considering new, national rules to govern the controversial, multi-billion

Update: On February 12, 2015, CRL president Mike Calhoun delivered testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; the hearing was entitled " Regulatory Relief for Community Banks and Credit Unions." (Includes video of the full hearing) In his testimony, Calhoun underlined that responsible regulations and regulatory oversight are critical to the success of small lenders. Download a transcript of his entire testimony. (PDF) He also pointed out: Community banks and credit unions are different from their larger, national and international lending counterparts –

Corinthian Colleges and ECMC Group, Inc., closed a deal to sell most of Corinthian's campuses to ECMC, a student loan debt collector. The sale brings mixed news for students: $480 million to forgive private student loan debts and the elimination of a troubling mandatory arbitration policy – but ECMC may ban class action lawsuits, and many federal loan borrowers get no relief. CRL senior policy analyst Maura Dundon remarked on the sale: The sale of most of Corinthian Colleges' campuses to ECMC closes one chapter in the troubled history of the for-profit college, but it is still unclear what the

In response to the President's speech tonight, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) has experts available to comment on areas mentioned in the State of the Union address including, mortgage access, student lending and the importance of new rules to rein in reckless practices in the financial sector. Strong Financial and Consumer Protections "With the President's promise to veto legislation that would roll back the progress made by Wall Street reform and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Americans can feel secure that they are protected from the predatory lending schemes that

President Obama is slated to discuss housing recovery and related policies on Thursday, January 8, 2015 from Central High School in Phoenix, Arizona. The Center for Responsible Lending has long been a research and policy leader on housing and mortgage policies. CRL has researched issues including access to credit, abusive mortgage lending practices, discrimination in markets, and family wealth-building. As early as 2006, CRL began calling attention to the abusive and predatory mortgage products that led to foreclosures and the financial crisis – as well as the disproportionate impact that the

On Thursday, January 8, 2015, President Obama will formally announce plans in Phoenix, AZ to reduce the cost of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration – a government agency that secures mortgages primarily for lower and moderate-income borrowers, especially families of color. The plans will: reduce FHA premiums to help make mortgages more affordable; build on successful policies that have helped lead the housing recovery; preserve sound underwriting and strong consumer protections; and continue to strengthen FHA's financial health. The combination of higher pricing for lower

The Department of Education and other regulators are currently reviewing a planned sale of 56 Corinthian campuses to ECMC Group, Inc., a federal student loan debt collector. This sale would convert the Corinthian campuses into nonprofits, exempting them from some federal regulations applying to for-profit colleges. Yesterday, the Center for Responsible Lending, along with 49 other consumer, civil rights, labor, military, and education groups, called on federal regulators to ensure that any sale of the troubled for-profit Corinthian Colleges include significant relief for harmed students, as

At a press conference today in front of a payday lending store in downtown San Jose, Representative Zoe Lofgren, Emmett Carson, the CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and Kyra Kazantzis of the Coalition Against Payday Predators (CAPP) warned consumers not to be grinched by payday lenders during the holiday season. Each spoke at the event about the harm caused to borrowers and in California communities by payday lending, alternatives for consumers and efforts to rein in payday lending abuses and end the "debt trap." Graciela Aponte, California External Relations Director for the Center

Today, at a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) field hearing in Oklahoma City, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Policy Counsel Lisa Stifler detailed growing abuses in medical debt collection that can take advantage of financially-distressed consumers and unfairly strip families of wealth. At the hearing, the CFPB released a report showing 43 million Americans have medical debt and announced that it would require consumer credit reporting agencies to regularly report on consumer disputes. Stifler released the following statement: "The fact that the CFPB receives more complaints

Gary Kalman, executive vice president at the Center for Responsible Lending, offers the following remarks: All Americans agree that taking advantage of the men and women who serve our nation violates our nation's fundamental values. Today, 40 US Senators have given voice to this value by supporting the Department of Defense's decision to strengthen the Military Lending Act. In a letter addressed to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, these Senators urge the decorated veteran to extend consumer protections for active duty service members and protect military families from the devastation caused by