CRL in the News

Financial institutions charge large fees when a customer’s checking account doesn’t have enough money for a purchase but the bank pays the transaction anyway. Instead of declining the transaction, as many customers expect banks would, the bank often “covers” the amount and adds a fee, typically as high as $35. This practice is particularly egregious on debit card transactions, which...

North Carolinians need to know that when protections for our citizens and military members from predatory lending was in jeopardy, Congressman Walter Jones was there.

In that environment, states, beginning with Connecticut in 2015, started enacting legislation requiring servicers to abide by certain consumer protections. That effort has picked up over the past several months as borrower advocates grow increasingly concerned that Betsy DeVos’s Department of Education will do little to protect borrowers from mistreatment at the hands of servicers. “We’re just seeing servicers putting...

Ashley Harrington, counsel for the center, says DeVos and the department haven’t been advocates for students. "These Attorneys General are setting an example of what it means to stand up for struggling students," she says in a statement. "The premise of the Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule is simple – students defrauded by their schools should be able to have...

That change and Navient's lobbying against state licensing efforts are drawing concern from consumer advocacy groups, who point to federal scrutiny over Navient and President Donald Trump's administration's moves to change regulations protecting borrowers. "From our perspective, that's going to require more state oversight," said Whitney Barkley-Denney, from the Center for Responsible Lending. "One servicer creates a too-big-to-fail environment where...

The National Consumer Law Center filed the request along with Public Citizen, the Center for Responsible Lending, the Consumer Federation of America, Public Knowledge, and Higher Ed, Not Debt. The F.C.C. declined to comment.

"The bill even specifically exempts payday and vehicle title lenders - notorious for springing devastating debt traps for their already vulnerable customers - from any regulation", added Yana Miles, senior legislative counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending.

Yana Miles, senior legislative counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending, said, “The bill even specifically exempts payday and car title lenders — notorious for springing devastating debt traps for their already vulnerable customers — from any regulation.” The bill passed the House (233-186) with only Republican support; all Democrats and Republican Rep. Walter Jones (NC) voted no. It is...

Seventeen states plus the District of Columbia either cap interest rates so low that lenders don’t set up shop there or bar the use of a vehicle title as a collateral for a loan, said Lisa Stifler, deputy director of state policy for the Center for Responsible Lending. The center is a North Carolina nonprofit that aims to protect low-income...

"The bill even specifically exempts payday and car title lenders — notorious for springing devastating debt traps for their already vulnerable customers — from any regulation," added Yana Miles, senior legislative counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending.