Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a new proposed Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule that would reduce the financial pressure local governments, states, and public housing agencies have to meet their fair housing obligations. HUD published its AFFH rule in 2015. In 2018, HUD effectively suspended the rule and removed the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced a proposal to reform the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)—the landmark anti-redlining law enacted nine years after the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to stop persistent discrimination in lending. The Federal Reserve, which shares a regulatory oversight role on CRA...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced today that the University of Phoenix, owned by Apollo Education Group, must pay $191 million to settle federal charges that it used false advertisement to lure its students with job placement promises at major U.S. corporations. The FTC said it was the largest settlement ever reached against a for-profit school. Whitney...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FUTURE Act, a bill to extend important mandatory funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribally Controlled Colleges or Universities (TCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) that expired in September. The legislation is expected to get the U.S. Senate’s final approval. The bill includes a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos released a student loan debt relief formula that undercuts defrauded borrowers, particularly those who went to ITT Tech and Corinthian Colleges. The flawed and convoluted methodology, which will be applied to the more than 200,000 outstanding claims pending review by the department, seeks to make it difficult for students to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan agreement to permanently reauthorize $255 million for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). The agreement amends the FUTURE Act, a bill that passed the House in September. The proposal also includes the FAFSA Act, a measure that...

OCC Proposes Rent-a-Bank Rule Today; Proposed Rule is on Agenda for FDIC Meeting on Nov. 19 Washington, D.C. - Advocates reacted with outrage to a new proposal from two federal bank regulators that could make it easier for payday and other high-cost lenders to use banks as a fig leaf so that online lenders can offer predatory loans at interest...

New legislation would protect people from the financial quicksand of high-interest loans First bill to extend Military Lending Act’s rate cap protection to all Americans Learn more about this map, showing the APR of a typical payday loan in those states without strong interest rate caps. For instance, in Illinois it is 404% and in Wisconsin 574%. WASHINGTON, D.C. –...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A coalition of 61 consumer, civil rights, and community groups today sent letters to three federal bank regulators urging them not to allow their banks to help payday lenders evade state interest rate limits. The groups sent separate letters to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), which regulates the only banks currently involved in rent-a-bank schemes; the...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, the U.S. Department of Education released the final version of federal regulations for accreditation and state authorization for online institutions. Set to take effect in July 2020, the new rules would lead to a spiraling decline in the quality of the nation’s higher education system, costly and fruitless expenditures of student time and money, and a cost...