Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, two years after the massive Equifax data breach, the credit monitoring agency has agreed to a settlement of up to $700 million. The agreement includes at least $400 million in consumer relief, $175 million to states, and $100 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in civil penalties. CRL Director of State Policy and Executive Vice...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) released A Smarter Qualified Mortgage Can Benefit Borrowers, Taxpayers, and the Economy, a report urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to take timely steps to ensure widespread access to safe and sustainable loans. Unless the CFPB revises its mortgage rule under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD), and National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) late yesterday submitted a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Executive Vice President Debbie Goldstein released the following statement today after the U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced her decision to rescind the agency’s Gainful Employment Rule: Betsy DeVos’ decision to eliminate this important education protection is a disservice to the public and only serves to put corporate interests...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. House Representatives Susie Lee (D-Nev.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced the Preventing Risky Operations from Threatening the Education and Career Trajectories of (PROTECT) Students Act of 2019, a bill to protect higher education students by improving oversight and accountability of predatory institutions, including for-profit colleges and universities. This legislation is a House version of the...

WASHINGTON, DC – Today Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released its annual report, The State of the Nation’s Housing 2019. (PDF) Published annually since 1988, this year’s report again identifies recent trends and issues facing the housing industry. Key to this year’s findings are: In 2019, the cost of a median-priced home rose by 4% to $261,600...

WASHINGTON, DC – Over two dozen faith leaders from around the country and two former borrowers met with the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Kathy Kraninger, today at CFPB headquarters in Washington. The group asked Director Kraninger to give great consideration to the people harmed by payday lending, as a CFPB proposal threatens to gut landmark reform...

Letters come after news that regulators pursuing joint small-dollar policy Growing concern that several Administration appointees may be giving green light for predatory loans WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for Responsible (CRL) joined a coalition of national consumer and civil rights groups in writing to top banking regulators on the importance of preventing banks from once again issuing payday...

CFPB is required to consider comments on its plan, which would eliminate protections from 300%+ APR payday loan debt traps House Oversight and Reform subcommittee hearing held on the proposal WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), as part of a coalition of civil rights, consumer, and labor groups, submitted an official comment letter to the Consumer Financial...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Eric Blankenstein, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s policy director for supervision, enforcement, and fair lending, has resigned following controversy over racist blog posts from 2004 in which he used racial slurs for African-Americans and claimed that most hate crimes reported by people of color were hoaxes. Center for Responsible Lending Executive Vice President Nikitra Bailey released...