Press Releases

A $200 million rebound from the previous year DURHAM, NC – Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) released a new report, Down the Drain: Payday Lenders Take $2.4 Billion in Fees from Borrowers in One Year. Based on 2022 data, the report features a range of original findings. In addition to calculating that borrowers paid payday lenders $2.4 billion...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced yesterday that President Donald Trump has appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as acting director of the agency. The decision follows the president’s removal of former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra over the weekend. In response, Nadine Chabrier, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), issued the following statement...

Legislation to keep megabanks’ overdraft fees expensive among the bills under consideration WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 5th at 10 am eastern time, the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing titled, “Make Community Banking Great Again,” that will feature testimony from Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Vice President and Federal Policy Director Mitria Spotser...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, it was announced that President Trump has removed Rohit Chopra from his job as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In response, Mitria Spotser, Vice President and Federal Policy Director at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), issued the following statement: While the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may change, the agency’s...

Opinion was misused to claim that fintech payday loans are not “credit” WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Register yesterday published a notice that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a new Advisory Opinion that rescinded an Advisory Opinion issued in 2020 under CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger on whether certain employer-integrated earned wage advances (EWA) constituted “credit” subject to the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a final rule that would apply existing mortgage protections to Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans and require lenders to approve these loans based on a borrower’s ability to repay. PACE loans, often used by homeowners to purchase solar panels, are paid back through property taxes. Anneliese Lederer, senior...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an overdraft rule that will prevent the country’s very largest banks and credit unions from charging excessive overdraft fees, lowering the cost of most overdraft fees from around $30 down to $5. “This rule provides needed breathing room for financially constrained consumers who are hit hardest by excessive overdraft...

Washington, DC – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has proposed a rule to rein in data brokers that sell Americans' sensitive personal and financial information. The proposed rule would limit the sale of personal identifiers like Social Security and phone numbers collected by certain companies and make sure that financial data, such as a person's income, is only shared...

Washington, D.C.— The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) commended the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed rule on student debt relief based on hardship in a comment letter submitted to Secretary Cardona yesterday evening. The rule aims to provide targeted support to millions of vulnerable Americans who are at the greatest risk of default, including communities of color, older borrowers and...

WASHINGTON, DC - The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last week released its annual report, showing that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has maintained the mutual mortgage insurance fund in a strong financial condition and is doing a good job of serving low-wealth, low-income home buyers. Michael Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) released the...