CRL in the News

"You reach out in a moment of desperation and then they lock you in," said Ellen Harnick, the executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending. "Plain Green Loans is one of the notorious companies. They flout state interest rate limits. And tout themselves as providing 'access to credit.' But this isn't credit. This is real harm."

The chaos and confusion resulting from systemic changes and closures at multiple federal agencies have now reached the $242 billion budget of the Department of Education. With the agency’s workforce cut in half, and plans announced to shut it down, millions of students and families who rely on federal financial aid for higher education are facing a front-line assault.

“People with low incomes really bear the brunt of this,” said Nadine Chabrier, senior policy and litigation counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending. Consumers also won’t see lower fees when they pay their credit card bills late.

The rally attracted particular interest in Durham, which is home to the national nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending and what Rust calls “a huge concentration of people who work in consumer protection.”

The Center for Responsible Lending’s (CRL) research report entitled, “A Loan Shark in Your Pocket: The Perils of Earned Wage Advance,” is another resource showing the dangers of predatory lending. “By offering predatory credit with just a few taps on your cell phone, cash advance apps are a loan shark in your pocket. This report shows many cash advance app...

There’s additional risk because unlike getting approved for a credit card,” there’s no requirement for a buy now, pay later to assess whether you have an ability to repay the loan,” said Nadine Chabrier at the Center for Responsible Lending. “That may lead to consumers taking out unaffordable amounts of debt.”

“Today’s decision does not serve the interests of students or families,” said Mitria Spotser, vice president and federal policy director at the Center for Responsible Lending, in a statement. “It weakens public education, abandons civil rights enforcement and prioritizes corporate interests over the fundamental right to a quality education,” Spotser said.

Critics warn the decision will have severe consequences for students and families. Mitria Spotser, vice president and federal policy director at the Center for Responsible Lending, called the move detrimental. “Today’s decision does not serve the interests of students or families,” she said in a statement. “It weakens public education, abandons civil rights enforcement, and prioritizes corporate interests over the...

“The Administration’s shutdown of the Consumer Bureau is wildly out of step with Americans, across the political spectrum, who want this consumer watchdog agency doing its job,” Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending, said in a statement. “Consumer Bureau rules to lower the cost of overdraft fees, lessen the burden of medical debt, and track gaps in...

Car title lending. Thankfully, a lot of North Carolinians have never heard of this particular business because it’s long been prohibited under state law. Unfortunately, many residents of other states are all too familiar with these frequently predatory loans in which borrowers sometimes pay interest rates of as high as 300% and face repossession of their vehicle if they miss...