The power of the sun, the courts and the need for change
It is encouraging that the market for solar power is sizable and expanding exponentially, but as this market grows, we must stop unethical companies from burning consumer rights.
A watchdog group targets payday lenders with a ‘2 strikes’ rule to help borrowers
By law, the CFPB doesn’t have the authority to cap interest rates, but states do. According to the Center for Responsible Lending, 19 states and the District of Columbia have done so — usually imposing a limit of 36% APR. The federal Military Lending Act has long capped the annual interest charged on payday loans for military members and their...
Earned wage access grows up
In a study published this year, the Center for Responsible Lending found the average APR on pay advances repaid in 7 to 14 days was 367% (compared with 400% for a typical payday loan).
PayPal cofounder Max Levchin’s traumatic debt experience motivated him to create Affirm. Now he’s dreaming of a world without credit cards
“[BNPL] is marketed as interest-free, but consumers can find that they end up being charged more than they think they will,” Nadine Chabrier, senior policy and litigation counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, told Vox last year. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau seems to agree, ruling earlier this month that BNPL plans must be regulated like credit cards.
Big Tech Wants Your Paycheck
A 2024 study from the Center for Responsible Lending found a 56 percent increase in overdrafts from users’ checking accounts after an initial advance, as companies tried to collect their money. “If you have insufficient funds in your bank account, [these companies] will attempt to collect repayment on multiple occasions, so you could end up receiving multiple overdraft fees as...
Earned wage access grows up
By the numbers: In a study published this year, the Center for Responsible Lending found the average APR on pay advances repaid in 7 to 14 days was 367% (compared with 400% for a typical payday loan).
NV Supreme Court rejects payday loan ballot initiative; narrower version awaits ruling
A June report from The Center for Responsible Lending — a nonprofit that opposes high-interest lending — found that the average interest rate for Nevada payday loans was 548 percent, the fifth-highest rate in the country.
A Continuing Struggle to Reform Payday Lending
According to a 2023 report from the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), 27 states across the country allow payday lending companies to issue single-payment loans with triple-digit interest rates. In recent years, five states have capped these rates, including conservative Nebraska, offering hope that more state legislatures across the country would do the same. But the payday lending industry has...
Biden’s overlooked campaign to protect Americans from Big Business
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a rule to curb overdraft fees incurred when consumers withdraw more than the available funds in their bank account — a move that might save customers about $3.5 billion a year overall. It would limit those fees to only what’s necessary to cover the institutions’ costs, which is somewhere between $3 and $14...
Zero-down mortgages are making a comeback
Anneliese Lederer, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, said it’s crucial for homeowners considering the UWM loan program to be educated about the terms and conditions. “Using fun lines like ‘no-down payment’ sounds exciting and great. But you need to read the fine print,” Lederer said. “This could be a fantastic product to allow people who can...