Press Releases

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson and Ranking Member Senator Mike Crapo announced yesterday a bipartisan agreement on a plan to reform the housing finance system. The proposal has yet to be fully unveiled. "We appreciate Senators Johnson and Crapo's attention to this critically important issue," said Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending. "The mortgage market is...

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) applauds Bank of America for taking another important step that prevents costly overdraft fees for consumers. "Overdraft fees have a punishing impact on financially vulnerable Americans, often ousting them from the banking system altogether," said Gary Kalman, executive vice president of CRL. "CRL commends Bank of America for offering a more responsible approach to...

Experts at the Center for Responsible Lending applauded the CFPB for their aggressive action on the for-profit university ITT Tech. According to the CFPB, "ITT exploited its students and pushed them into high-cost private student loans that were very likely to end in default. The CFPB is seeking restitution for victims, a civil fine, and an injunction against the company."...

During the annual State of the Union address, the President rightly called for housing finance reform that keeps the American Dream of homeownership alive for this and future generations. This Dream accounts for $10 trillion of our nation's economy and is a proven path towards upward mobility for millions of Americans. It is also why it is important to preserve...

African Americans and Latinos pay higher interest rates on dealer-financed car loans than white buyers, even though people of color report more attempts to negotiate a better deal. According to a new report issued today by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), 39% of Latinos and 32% of African Americans reported attempts to negotiate their interest rate, compared to only...

Updated at 5:05 p.m. More good news: Wells Fargo Bank, US Bank and Fifth Third Bank announced today that they will discontinue their 225-300% annualized-interest-rate payday loan products. The announcements follow regulatory guidance finalized late last year by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which supervises Wells Fargo and US Bank, and by the FDIC. The guidance...

Good news for consumers: This morning Regions Bank announced it is discontinuing its payday loan product—loans with triple-digit interest rates. Data have consistently shown that payday loans made by banks, like those made by payday stores, lead to a cycle of repeat loans, making a borrower's financial situation worse instead of better. Regions Bank is one of a handful of...

With today's settlement with Ally Financial, Inc. and Ally Bank (Ally), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice took a major step to combat the longstanding problem of discrimination in car loans originated by automobile dealers. The practice that leads to this discrimination is auto loan "markups," when car dealers charge their customers higher rates than they qualify...

Today's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) enforcement action against CashCall marks a decisive strike in the ongoing crackdown on payday lenders' defective business model. The CFPB found that loan servicer CashCall's practices of collecting loans on behalf of online lender Western Sky were unfair, deceptive, and abusive. This action is another example of ongoing collaboration between federal and state law...

We commend the U.S. Senate for confirming Representative Mel Watt as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Representative Watt is eminently qualified to run this crucial agency based on his decades of experience as a real estate attorney and member of the House Financial Services Committee. He has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to work with a variety of stakeholders...