Press Releases

“These new Public Service Loan Forgiveness standards will allow hundreds of thousands of Americans to finally access the promised loan forgiveness they earned after working for years in their communities and making their agreed-upon repayments,” said Whitney Barkley-Denney, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending. “While more needs to be done, it is encouraging that this Department of Education listened to borrowers and advocates and made much-needed reforms to address some of the failures of the program.” ### Press Contacts: Alfred King alfred.king@responsiblelending.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate is expected to take a final vote today on the nomination of Federal Trade Commission member Rohit Chopra to serve as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In response to this development, Center for Responsible Lending Acting Federal Advocacy Director Graciela Aponte-Diaz issued the following statement: Rohit Chopra is the consumer watchdog our country needs. He is up to the challenge of protecting people’s wallets from predatory practices, ranging from lending discrimination to COVID relief scams to abusive debt collection practices

Washington, D.C. — Following Senator Raphael Warnock’s (D-GA) introduction of the Senate companion to the Downpayment Toward Equity Act, which would allocate $100 billion in funding for first-time homebuyers, the National Fair Housing Alliance, the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, the National Urban League, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, the Center for Responsible Lending, UnidosUS, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights issued the following statement: “Homeownership remains one of the most important drivers of wealth

Joint statement by BPI, CRL and ICBA in advance of U.S. Subcommittee hearing on “The Future of Banking” Washington, D.C. — This morning, the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions will meet to discuss the “The Future of Banking,” including whether to prevent companies that are not banks from using an industrial loan company (ILC) charter to expand their business into financial services without meeting the full slate of safeguards and oversight that applies to bank holding companies. The Bank Policy Institute, Center for Responsible Lending

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, national civil rights, housing policy, and consumer protection groups released a letter sent to Congressional leadership and committee chairs calling for inclusion of housing policies that would advance racial and economic equity in the upcoming human infrastructure reconciliation legislation. The letter, linked here, was signed by the Center for Responsible Lending, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, National Community

House Committee on Small Business Hears Testimony on Faulty Forgiveness Rules for the Paycheck Protection Program WASHINGTON, D.C. – Experts in small business lending today told a House committee that confusion around the rules of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is inadvertently saddling many of the smallest businesses – disproportionately owned by people of color – with unanticipated debt. “SBA implementation of this unprecedented program was remarkably fast – but it came with a complex and constantly changing set of rules,” Tracy Ward, Director of the SBA 504 Loan Program at Self-Help

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), along with affiliated nonprofits, Self-Help Credit Union and Self-Help Federal Credit Union, today released a comment letter supporting a proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to restore the “disparate impact” standard, a crucial legal tool used to identify and eliminate discrimination. Full text of the comment letter is linked here. “Discrimination continues to plague our housing market. It denies economic opportunities to Black and Latino communities and other communities of color, as well as

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) yesterday announced a first-of-its-kind collaborative agreement for fair housing and fair lending coordination. The Memorandum of Understanding between the agencies aims to promote “information sharing, coordination on investigations, compliance reviews, and the ongoing monitoring of” Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which FHFA regulates. “Where a person lives affects their health, educational opportunities, access to transportation, and proximity to jobs. Housing

Washington, D.C. — The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) issued a new joint policy brief revealing that almost two-thirds (63%) of student loan borrowers enrolled in Income-Driven Repayment Plans (IDR) serviced by Navient who made voluntary loan payments during the COVID-19 federal student loan payment pause are underwater—unable to repay even $1 of their original loan balance. Of the borrowers who are underwater, one-third owe more than 125% of their original balance, despite making at least one payment during the payment pause enacted by the

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Fannie Mae announced yesterday that positive rental payment history will be considered in its automated underwriting system starting on September 18. Center for Responsible Lending President Mike Calhoun said, “The housing system is replete with inequitable barriers that prevent credit-worthy renters of color and low-income renters from becoming homeowners, denying them a primary path for building family wealth. Fannie Mae’s step to incorporate positive rental payment history into its underwriting platform removes a significant barrier, responsibly expanding access to