Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the leadership of Independence University told its faculty the school will close on August 1 in an email that also instructed recipients not to inform students and borrowers of the closure. Independence U. Lays Off Staff, Says Feds Stopped Aid | Republic Report Independence University announced to its staff this week that they would be laid...

CRL to testify in support of legislation at Senate hearing scheduled for tomorrow morning WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) – chairs of the Senate Armed Services and Senate Banking committees respectively – along with Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) introduced the Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act. The...

OAKLAND, CALIF. – California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) this week released a report revealing that the state’s payday lenders made fewer than 6.1 million loans with a value of $1.68 billion in 2020, which represents a 40 percent decline overall and a 30 percent decline in customers from 2019. The decrease can be attributed to several factors...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), the Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), New America’s Higher Education Program, and Veterans Education Success (VES) submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Education opposing the proposed acquisition of Walden University by Adtalem, a corporation that operates for-profit educational institutions. Adtalem...

Washington, D.C. – The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) this week announced that it will work to rescind Trump-era rules that weakened the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and that it will work jointly with the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to strengthen and modernize regulations implementing the CRA. The 2020 CRA rule...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) formally introduced three bills to help more people afford to have a roof over their head without sacrificing food, medicine, or other life necessities. The legislative package – the Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2021, Ending Homelessness Act of 2021, and Housing Is Infrastructure Act of 2021 –...

WASHINGTON, DC – Provisions of the Fair Housing Act which fight our nation’s legacy of government-sponsored residential segregation and discrimination could again be enforced if a proposed federal rule is adopted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), according to a letter released by fair housing groups. The letter supports restoration of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH)...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – One of the largest student loan debt servicers, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Authority (PHEAA), announced Thursday that it would no longer service student loans when its contract with the federal government ends in December. PHEAA, which operates as FedLoan Servicing, services student loans for about 8.5 million borrowers, representing approximately 20 percent of all federal student...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, President Biden signed bipartisan Congressional legislation rescinding the misleadingly named “true lender” rule issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) late last year. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL) led the push to overturn...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) today introduced the Overdraft Protection Act of 2021. This legislation, aimed at establishing fair and transparent practices related to provision of overdraft coverage programs, would provide strong consumer protections and protect vulnerable populations from abusive bank practices. Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Senior Policy Counsel Rebecca Borné released the following statement: We...