Press Releases

120+ Advocates Urge FDIC, OCC, and Fed To Deny OppFi’s Request to Acquire BNC Bank WASHINGTON – A broad coalition filed comments urging regulators to deny the application of the predatory lender Opportunity Financial (“OppFi”) to acquire a national bank. If the deal is approved, OppFi could offer loans up to 195% APR, and payday loan apps carrying even higher...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today proposed massive changes to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). In response, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) President Mike Calhoun issued the following statement: This plan would siphon away investment from the very communities in rural and urban America that most...

DURHAM, N.C. — Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) announced that Center for Community Self-Help Executive Vice President Crystal German will become president of CRL’s Julian Bond Institute (JBI), starting August 1. Alongside this new role at JBI, Ms. German will continue as EVP at Self-Help, where she leads its mortgage credit, community engagement, marketing and communications, and fundraising...

Voters also support protections on overdraft fees, credit card late fees and privacy WASHINGTON, DC – In advance of Russell Vought’s first-ever congressional testimony as acting director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) this week, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) today released a new poll demonstrating that, across the political spectrum, likely...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal district court yesterday vacated the Trump administration's Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) rule that would have allowed the U.S. Department of Education to exclude otherwise eligible employers from the program based on a "substantial illegal purpose" standard. The court’s decision leaves existing PSLF eligibility rules in place and prevents the new restrictions from taking effect...

New polling shows near universal support among voters for requiring apps to charge no more than 36% APR WASHINGTON — A coalition of more than 225 labor, civil rights, consumer and community groups urged members of the U.S. House of Representatives to oppose H.R. 9330, legislation scheduled to be voted on momentarily in the House Financial Services Committee. The groups...

Voters of both parties and independent voters also agree that payday loan app interest rates should be capped at 36 percent and follow other consumer protections Washington, D.C. — A new poll commissioned by Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending found that 86 percent of voters across parties agree that financial technology companies should follow the...

Unprecedented bids could create the first national banks dedicated to predatory lending WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 60 consumer, civil rights, labor, small business, legal services and community groups, and academics yesterday urged the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to hold public hearings and take a vote of the governors on the bids of two Chicago-based, high-cost lenders, Enova International...

With auto loan debt at a historic high, report calls for Trump Administration, states to tackle predatory practices DURHAM, N.C. — With auto loan delinquencies and defaults as well as vehicle repossessions at the highest levels since the Great Recession, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) today released a new report, “ ‘We Woke Up to Them Taking Our Car’...

WASHINGTON, DC — It was announced this morning that former Congressman Barney Frank, co-author of the eponymous Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, has died. “Our heart goes out to Congressman Frank’s husband, family, and friends for their loss,” said Mike Calhoun, president at the Center for Responsible Lending. “In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the...