Research & Policy

45 local and national advocates from across the country, including 20 from Maryland, urge Maryland’s Governor to veto HB1294, a bill that gives app-based payday lenders a special exemption from state laws that prohibit lending that is discriminatory, is deceptive, or carries extremely high interest rates.

The U.S. Department of Education’s commitment to reforming Title IV programs presents a historic opportunity to reshape the federal student aid system into one that is more equitable, efficient, and effective. CRL stands ready to support this process and urges the Department to center the needs of students—especially those that are first generational and underrepresented—in all forthcoming regulatory proposals.

The 349 undersigned consumer, civil rights, labor, legal services and community organizations and academics write to urge you to demand action to restore a strong and independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). We further urge you to oppose changes to the CFPB’s funding, structure or other changes that would weaken its ability to stand up for consumers, competition and a...

In a letter to President Trump, a group of consumer, economic justice and civil rights organizations urge him to veto S.J. Res 18, which would overturn a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that limits steep overdraft fees charged by large banks and credit unions.

Nearly 300 consumer, civil rights, labor, legal services and community organizations and academics wrote to oppose S.J. Res. 18 which would overturn the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s overdraft fee rule. This rule would reduce most overdraft fees from $35 to $5, stop manipulative practices by big banks, improve transparency, and put $5 billion back into the pockets of everyday people...

The newest poll from the bipartisan polling team Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consultingi provides fresh evidence that the overwhelming majority of Americans across the political spectrum support the mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to regulate the financial industry and protect consumers. The new findings are consistent with previous opinion research demonstrating widespread, intense public support...

Vehicle-title loans are high-cost loans with little or no underwriting that are secured by a borrower’s car title. Title lenders charge fees and interest as high as 300% APR and put borrowers’ important assets at risk of repossession.

In the 30 states that allow payday lending, single-payment and payday installment loans drained more than $2.4 billion in fees in a single year from low-income borrowers.

Watch the recorded testimony of CRL VP Mitria Spotser before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services in a hearing titled "Make Community Banking Great Again."

On behalf of the Center for Responsible Lending, thank you for the opportunity to comment on the notice of proposed rulemaking (Proposed Rule) by the U.S. Department of Education on Student Debt Relief Based on Hardship for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (Direct Loans), the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins) Program...

The National Consumer Law Center, the Center for Responsible Lending and the Student Borrower Protection Center submitted to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve System, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on the Request for Information on Bank-Fintech Arrangements Involving Banking Products and Services Distributed to Consumers and Businesses. The comments focus on bank-fintech partnerships in the...

Among the hottest consumer finance topics in recent years is the proliferation of online lenders offering fintech cash advances, including the subset of those lenders who offer earned wage advances (EWA). These are very short-term loans of small dollar amounts that users can access through a smartphone app. Lenders that offer these products strenuously attempt to avoid being regulated like...

Online lenders offering earned wage and cash advances primarily through cell phone apps have proliferated in the past decade, with companies claiming that existing credit laws do not apply to their products.

States in blue have a state-specific factsheet, while states in gray can use the national factsheet which highlights data from users in all 50 states. Access the factsheets at the links below. Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Nevada New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Pennsylvania South Carolina Tennessee Texas...

Earned wage advances (EWA) are small, short-term loans that are typically repaid on the consumers’ next payday. Research by CRL and others has demonstrated using these fintech cash advances leaves many consumers worse off - paying high fees for small loans, increasing their risk of overdraft, and having to reborrow paycheck after paycheck. Regulators should enforce credit laws to increase...

Consumer installment loans offered by nonbank lenders can be an expensive form of credit that keeps borrowers in costly long-term debt. Lenders offer these loans to individuals for their personal or household use. Consumers borrow between $1,000 to $25,000 or more. Many states regulate the costs and other terms of these loans, usually requiring them to be repaid monthly over...

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) submitted an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit to correct the lower court’s misinterpretation of a Colorado law, and the federal law on which it is based, in order to prohibit out-of-state banks from helping lenders charge Colorado borrowers interest rates...

Public interest organizations, appalled by the Walt Disney Company invoking its restrictive terms of use to evade accountability for the death of a consumer on its premises, wrote to Congress in support of an immediate mark up to the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act (the FAIR Act), S.1376 and H.R. 2953 so that this legislation may be brought to a...

A new poll from the bipartisan polling team Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting provides fresh evidence that voters across the political spectrum solidly support a strong Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and tough oversight of Wall Street. This support reaches across blue and red states, and is, in some cases, higher in the battleground states of this year's...

The Problem High-cost lenders are ignoring state law and continuing to lend high above the state's legal interest rates, using a practice called Rent-A-Bank. In some cases, these rates are under 36% on very large loans. In others, rates are in the triple-digits, charging consumers up to 200% to finance car repairs, furniture, and even puppies. How Rent-A-Bank Works In...

The Center for Responsible Lending, the National Consumer Law Center, and Consumer Federation of America commend the CFPB for affirming that paycheck advance loans, regardless of their characterization by lenders, are credit products subject to federal disclosure requirements. As written, the proposed interpretive rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding the applicability of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA)...

The consumer, labor, civil rights, legal services and community organizations wrote with strong support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed interpretive rule on emerging paycheck advance products, sometimes marketed as “earned wage” products.

CRL and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF) support the proposed rule which amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act Regulation V to prohibit creditors and consumer reporting agencies from using medical debt information for credit eligibility determinations or providing medical debt information that a creditor is prohibited from using. The Fair Credit Reporting Act was enacted, in part, to...

The Center for Responsible Lending submitted a comment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on their interpretive rule regarding Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) digital user accounts.

These organizations support the CFPB’s conclusion that accounts used to access BNPL credit are credit cards that must comply with credit card rules governing disputes, errors, periodic statements and disclosures. Those protections will enhance the safety of BNPL credit and make it easier for consumers to manage their finances.