Press Releases

Joint Press Release with the North Carolina Justice Center After a campaign by consumer advocates and state leaders, a bank dropped its harmful payday lending program in North Carolina. Payday loans have been illegal in North Carolina for more than a decade, but that hasn't stopped all payday lending. For the past year, Regions Bank has used federal banking law...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rules generally strike a balanced, reasonable approach to mortgage lending and implement important consumer protections. The standard CFPB establishes for a safe, well-underwritten mortgage is appropriately broad enough to include the vast majority of creditworthy home owners, and it is clear enough for lenders and borrowers alike to understand. And the rules preserve legal...

Five United States Senators—Senators Richard Blumenthal, Sherrod Brown, Richard Durbin, Charles Schumer, and Tom Udall—have asked federal regulators http://rspnsb.li/UBdcq6 to stop banks from making predatory payday loans. The banks in question are making payday loans with triple-digit interest rates, essentially duplicating the storefront payday businesses that routinely trap lower-income borrowers in long-term harmful debt. In a letter dated January 2...

In the first report of its kind, the Center for Responsible Lending examines consumer lending markets across-the-board and finds that—despite major gains in regulatory reforms—predatory lending continues to undermine American households trying to rebuild their finances after the recession. View or download the report. The State of Lending in America and its Impact on U.S. Households ( State of Lending)...

The Center for Responsible Lending and the Financial Services Roundtable today asked Congress to extend the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, which is set to expire at year's end. "This tax law has bi-partisan support and is critical to helping homeowners and communities struggling with the ongoing foreclosure crisis," the two organizations said in joint letters to House and Senate...

Statement of CRL President Mike Calhoun on today's report by HUD on the FHA's financial status FHA has played a critical role during the housing crisis and the economic downturn. It provided credit to families who otherwise would not have been able to buy homes. This has helped new home owners, but also helped stabilize neighborhoods and communities and boost...

Foreclosures across the United States have drained nearly $2 trillion in property value from surrounding households, more than half of it from African-American and Latino homeowners, a new study from the Center for Responsible Lending finds. The report, "Collateral Damage: The Spillover Costs of Foreclosures," updates CRL's research on the economic harm that homeowners suffer by living near foreclosed properties—the...

Statement of CRL President Mike Calhoun about the complaint filed yesterday by the Residential Mortgage-backed Securities Working Group, a task force that was formed in January by the Justice Department: "The complaint filed against Bear Stearns, now owned by JPMorgan Chase, is a welcome step in an ongoing investigation of Wall Street investment banking activities leading up to the financial...

The latest Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) survey shows positive trends in the housing market, with delinquencies and foreclosures down from last year. However, the millions of foreclosures still ahead will continue to erode communities and slow economic recovery. The need for aggressive and fair loan modifications remains as strong as ever. In addition, policymakers will sabotage growth and recovery if...

Restoring the US housing market is critical to our nation's economic recovery. That is why we are disappointed with the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) announcement today that it will not permit targeted forgiveness of loan principal balances for struggling homeowners. This decision means that principal reductions are not an option for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans even when...