Press Releases

North Carolina has been – and I hope will continue to be – a leader in finding effective solutions to predatory lending. Over the past decade, our lawmakers struck an effective balance between strong financial markets and fair consumer protections, enacting laws that are now models for other states and Congress. In the area of housing, North Carolina has often been in the forefront. Our state was the first to establish protection against predatory mortgage lending. It regulated mortgage brokers and lenders, and passed laws to prevent some of the worst subprime loan abuses. And it established

Today's Department of Justice fair lending settlement with Countrywide Financial is welcome news in a housing market still reeling from the costs of rampant predatory lending. Countrywide was the largest of the rogue mortgage lenders that caused the current crisis. Regulators' lax lending rules and loose oversight allowed these bad practices to flourish. The DOJ settlement deals exclusively with Countrywide lending prior to the time it was acquired by Bank of America. The acquisition has been good for borrowers and the country because it took a bad actor off the street. But it has been a

By a vote of 53-45 today, Senators failed to confirm Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Now there's a clear record of who wants a return to the policies that sparked the financial crisis and taxpayer bailouts, and who wants reforms to make sure this never happens again. For more information: Kathleen Day at (202) 349-1871 or kathleen.day@responsiblelending.org; Ginna Green at (510) 379-5513 or ginna.green@responsiblelending.org;

2.7 million of the mortgages made at the height of the housing bubble have ended in foreclosure and at least another 3.6 million likely will fail in the next few years, a new CRL research report shows. That means the nation is not yet midway through a foreclosure crisis that mires the economy. The report— Lost Ground, 2011—finds that while most people who have lost their homes have been white and in middle- or higher-income brackets, African-American and Latino families have suffered a disproportionate share of losses. The research also shows that differences in income and credit history don't

While protests on Wall Street have the media spotlight these days, there is an even broader, bipartisan majority of Americans who support financial reform and want a strong Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). So it's good that the Senate Banking Committee today approved the nomination of Richard Cordray as Director of the CFPB. Mr. Cordray has a strong track record in dealing with consumer finance issues and is a proven leader. Unfortunately, some Senators have shown they will block the nomination of any CFPB Director unless the Bureau is significantly weakened. In effect, they are

The latest Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) mortgage report shows a rise in 30-day delinquencies, including an increase in late payments on prime, fixed-rate mortgages. Overall, the picture hasn't changed significantly from first quarter, as one in 11 mortgage holders remains at serious risk of foreclosure (60 days delinquent or more). Serious delinquencies and foreclosure starts continued to show declines, as many loan servicers slow down evictions while correcting problems related to robo-signing and other illegal practices. Even so, more than 5.5 million U.S. homeowners are at some stage

Over 38 million vehicles were financed through an auto dealer last year, with many loaded with abusive lending practices that cost Americans billions of dollars. Auto dealers often steer unsuspecting buyers into overpriced loans, especially when kickbacks from the bank to the dealer are involved. Until now such practices have continued largely unknown to consumers and unregulated, but new consumer protection laws have changed that by giving the FTC new oversight authority. In its new role, the FTC is holding fact-gathering sessions around the country. It will hold its second one, open to the

Last night a majority of House members voted against a strong, independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and in favor of the flawed lending and weak oversight that sparked our economic meltdown. In doing so, they sided with Wall Street lobbyists and big-money financial firms, and against Americans' wallets and our economic recovery. These lawmakers are clearly out of touch with most Americans, who by a 4 to 1 margin support a single agency to protect consumers from deceptive financial products. The cost of the national economic crisis is already enormous: trillions of dollars in lost

Banks regulators should ban these 365 percent APR products especially for seniors on fixed government income Payday loans made by banks carry sky-high interest rates—an average 365 percent APR—and, though marketed as short-term debt, regularly lead borrowers into long-term debt, new CRL research shows.* For the full report, http://rspnsb.li/nkyx95. The new report, Big Bank Payday Loans, shows that, on average, a bank payday loan is repaid within 10 days, eats up 44 percent of a borrower's next deposit, and often creates the need for a subsequent loan. As a result, borrowers stay in debt an

An overwhelming majority of Americans—Republican, Democratic, and Independent—favor strong, sensible oversight of the financial services industry, including a strong and independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new poll finds. (Read CRL's analysis.) By a 3 to 1 margin Americans want financial firms held accountable and financial reforms to take effect as soon as possible. And they want the CFPB—created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010—to be up and running as planned, not diluted by industry's current attempts to weaken its funding and