Press Releases

A new report released today by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) shows that students at Maine’s for-profit colleges carry higher levels of debt, borrow in higher percentages, and have worse repayment rates on that debt compared to their peers at public and private non-profit institutions. These debt burdens fall especially heavily on African-Americans, women, and low-income students, who are...

Amid Baseless Attacks on Consumer Protection Agency, CFPB Director Richard Cordray Testifies Before House Financial Services Committee Today, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray will testify at a House Financial Services Committee on the 2016 Semi-Annual Reports from his agency. Since its inception in 2010, the independent CFPB has provided 29 million Americans harmed by financial companies with...

Consumer Advocates Question FinTech Company’s High Default Rates, Triple Digit Interest Rates Consumer advocates criticized the high interest rates and high default rates of Elevate Credit, Inc. (Elevate), an online lender that is expected to soon have an initial public offering. In its recent filing with the SEC, Elevate cited several risks to potential investors, including “regulatory limitations on the...

Diverse Show of Support for a Strong, Independent Consumer Protection Agency Today, consumer and civil rights groups, leading legal scholars and members of Congress will submit amicus briefs to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in the case of PHH Corporation v. CFPB in support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The diverse amici urge the full...

Today, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) President Mike Calhoun testified before the House Financial Services Committee’s Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee for a hearing entitled “The State of Bank Lending in America.” Calhoun discussed recent trends in lending and how the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is working to expand credit and strengthen consumer protection, and...

Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 28, at approximately 2 p.m. ET, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) President Mike Calhoun will testify before the House Financial Services Committee’s Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee for a hearing entitled “The State of Bank Lending in America.” Calhoun will discuss recent trends in lending and how the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act...

Today, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and its sister organization, The Leadership Education Fund, announced the selection of Vanita Gupta as the new president and CEO of both organizations. Gupta is an accomplished advocate and litigator who most recently served as head of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice under President Barack Obama...

Hearing Uses Debunked Arguments as Cover for Favoring Payday Lenders, Financial Predators Over Working Families Today, the House Committee on Financial Services’ Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing on the design of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Since its inception in 2010, the independent CFPB has provided 29 million Americans harmed by financial companies with a total of...

Assemblymember Kalra's AB 1109 would cap high-cost loans at 24% Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) applauded California Assemblymember Ash Kalra’s (D-San Jose) introduction of AB 1109, the Safe Consumer Lending Act, a bill to cap an annual percentage rate (APR) at 24% plus origination fee for consumer loans of $2,500 to $10,000. Currently, California has no APR limit...

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released its draft licensing manual for fintech firms seeking the agency's new limited-purpose national bank charters. The draft offers detail on how the OCC will apply the licensing standards and requirements in existing regulations and policies to fintech firms applying for special national bank charters. The draft will be open for...