Press Releases

Credit card companies make credit more costly than necessary by manipulating payments to keep the highest-cost balances from being paid off and by imposing hidden, hard-to-understand penalty interest rates, two new studies released today by Center for Responsible Lending show. The reports, entitled "Priceless or Just Expensive? The Use of Penalty Rates in the Credit Card Industry" and "What's Draining...

Today we learn from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) that at least one out of every 10 homeowners is behind on their mortgage or already facing foreclosure, a fact that underscores what we already know is the gloomiest housing picture in the United States in decades, possibly ever. The MBA's newest numbers for the three months ending September 30 also...

OAKLAND—Dec. 5, 2008—Nearly 11 percent of all mortgage loans in California were past due or in foreclosure at the end of September according to new data released this morning from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The data, which show that nationally one in 10 homes were delinquent; 1 in 20 were seriously delinquent and 1 in 33 were in foreclosure...

A new survey by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. underscores the need for regulatory and congressional action to stop banks from artificially increasing overdrafts without a customer's express consent, a practice that unfairly strips billions of dollars annually from checking accounts. The survey, taken of the banks the FDIC supervises, found that a majority of banks reported automatically enrolling customers...

The Honorable Barack ObamaPresident-Elect of the United Statesc/o Presidential Transition TeamWashington, DC[Via electronic delivery to John Podesta, Larry Summers, Tim Geithner] Dear President-Elect Obama, We, the undersigned leaders of the nation's foremost consumer, community, civil rights and legal services organizations, write to you to state our urgent concerns regarding the need to guarantee consumer and marketplace protections as a fundamental...

Today, as the President-elect announces his economic team for the new Administration, the Center for Responsible Lending highlights the urgent need to stop the epidemic of foreclosures and restore a lending environment where ordinary Americans have access to sustainable loans without fearing financial ruin. "We commend the next Administration for assembling a talented and experienced team to address the economic...

CRL has signed a joint letter with the American Bankers Association and other industry trade associations asking the Department of Housing and Urban Development to continue the FHASecure program at least through the end of next year. Extending the program, which otherwise will sunset in December of this year, is one of several vital steps federal officials and lawmakers must...

Lupe Solis, associate director of advocacy for AARP Arizona Ohio and Arizona voters sent a strong message to the payday industry Tuesday when they used the ballot box to reject abusive payday lending practices in their states. The thumbs-down vote in both states against predatory interest rates of 391 percent came despite a multimillion-dollar ad campaign by the payday industry...

Washington, DC - A survey of Detroit households suggests payday loans are no solution for those in financial need. The survey by University of Michigan law professor Michael S. Barr found that respondents using payday loans were more likely to file for bankruptcy, be evicted, or face utility shut-offs than respondents who had not taken a payday loan. Payday lenders...

This guest column appeared in the Herald Sun (Durham, NC). During times of economic chaos, there is often a tendency to rewrite history. Today, while nearly everyone agrees that reckless subprime loans started this financial crisis, the questions of how and why these loans were made have triggered a frenzy of finger-pointing. Unfortunately, too many fingers are pointing in the...