CRL in the News

Whether more lending options for consumers is a good thing depends on the quality of those products, says Rebecca Borne, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending.

There are 13 such stores in Springfield and Urbana, many clustered on East Main and South Limestone streets. Ohio in all has more than 830 storefronts that offer payday or car title loans, most of which offer both forms of loans, according to a report by the Center for Responsible Lending.

For too long, for-profit colleges have failed to serve the educational purpose for which they were intended. The combination of high-costs and low graduation rates by these bad actors have resulted in unfair burdens for student borrowers and taxpayers. This bill improves accountability for all higher education institutions and creates a sensible path to fix our broken student loan repayment...

According to a recent poll released by the left-leaning Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), 80 percent of American voters are “concerned about CFPB’s efforts to curb enforcement of fair lending rules, ending enforcement of payday lending rules and restricting public access its database of complaints.”

In 2013, the state created a small-dollar loan program to regulate loans between $300 and $2,500. The state caps interest on those loans between 20 and 30 percent, but any loan above $2,500 is the “real Wild, Wild West,” said Graciela Aponte-Diaz, California policy director at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit focused on consumer lending.

“Before Mick Mulvaney’s tenure at the agency, the CFPB was a champion for working families – giving back billions of dollars in relief to consumers who were cheated by financial companies,” noted Mike Calhoun, CRL president.

As debit cards gained popularity, banks initially rejected transactions if users didn’t have enough money in their accounts, explained Rebecca Borne, of the Center for Responsible Lending, who contributed to the bill as well. Institutions quickly discovered, however, that enabling such transactions to go through and charging the customer a subsequent overdraft fee could be a handy source of income.

"Payday loans are dangerous and unaffordable for everyone, but borrowers who are just starting out or who are struggling financially — they're the most vulnerable," Lisa Stifler, deputy director of state policy for the Center for Responsible Lending, tells CNBC Make It.

Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending will release survey results Tuesday showing that an overwhelming majority of Americans — at least 80% — are concerned about the Trump administration’s recent efforts to curb oversight of banks and payday lenders, and the possible shutdown of a database of consumer complaints.

“There’s a huge amount of public support for the rule and no congressional action or appetite for repealing the rule,” said Scott Astrada, director of federal advocacy for the Center for Responsible Lending.