Press Releases

On September 26, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) levied a $9 million fine against TitleMax parent company TMX Finance LLC for failure to tell consumers the terms and costs of auto-title loans sold over a 5-year period, beginning in 2011. The lender was also charged with illegally exposing consumers' personal information to their employers and references. Offering auto-title and...

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) lauds the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to terminate federal recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). This action will prevent schools accredited by ACICS from participating in federal financial aid programs. Approximately 550,000 students are currently enrolled in schools accredited by ACICS. Many of these students are enrolled at...

Groups Call for More Robust Documentation Standards to Ensure Debt Collectors Can Prove a Debt Is Owed A coalition of 59 national and state organizations, led by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA), Consumers Union, Americans for Financial Reform, and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) sent a letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray...

Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) welcomed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's action against Bridgepoint Education, Inc., a for-profit college chain based in San Diego, Calif., for deliberately misleading students into taking out private education loans that cost more than advertised. Under the action, CFPB is ordering Bridgepoint to discharge any and all outstanding private loans made to its...

In an August 31 ruling, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) secured a critical win in a suit against California-based payday and installment lender for “servicing and collecting full payment on loans that state-licensing and usury laws had rendered wholly or partially void or uncollectible.” In an action to enforce the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the...

In response to today’s announcement that ITT Technical Educational Services, Inc. will close all of its nationwide locations, the Center for Responsible Lending’s Whitney Barkley, a policy counsel specializing in student loans made the following statement: Although ITT Tech blamed its closures on August 25 Department of Education supervisory actions, the institution was facing multiple state investigations as well as...

New research finds that in states without triple-digit payday loans, 90 million consumers save more than $2.2 billion each year that would have otherwise been paid to lenders. These costs savings also bring fewer long-term financial harms such as bankruptcy. The research shows that consumers in payday-free states have multiple ways to manage temporary cash shortfalls and at a fraction...

CRL research finds low lending levels perpetuate racial wealth gaps and segregation. Mortgage lending in the nation's most populous state continues to lock out many of California's consumers of color, finds the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). A new analysis of first-lien, owner-occupied home purchase mortgages made from 2012-2014, reveal a lack of access to conventional mortgages for many Latino...

Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) convened a public hearing in Sacramento on the first look at the agency's proposals to address abusive debt collection. The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) delivered expert testimony that highlighted how millions Americans are affected by this $13 billion industry. Equally important, the public hearing also provides the opportunity to offer initial feedback...

Financial accountability and tough regulations are still needed, say 3 out of 4 likely voters. These two top line findings from a recent poll measured consumer satisfaction with Wall Street banks as well as a range of other financial services and providers including credit cards, debt collectors, payday loans and mortgages. The poll, jointly commissioned by the Center for Responsible...