Research & Policy

The Center for Responsible Lending, Self-Help Credit Union, Self-Help Federal Credit Union, and Self-Help Ventures Fund strongly support the CDFI Fund’s efforts to more vigorously ensure that the primary mission of any CDFI is to promote community development. In November 2020, CRL and Self-Help urged the Fund to adopt several critical consumer protections in the Fund’s certification application. We are...

A broad coalition of consumer groups filed comments supporting the CDFI Fund’s changes to the application for CDFI certification. In recent years, many harmful financial products have been pushed on underserved communities in the name of “access to credit” and “financial inclusion.” Most CDFIs stay away from these harmful products and are true to their mission but far too many...

As of the end of August 2022, 350,000 FHA borrowers were seriously delinquent. Some of these borrowers will regain their financial footing, cure their delinquency, and resume their monthly payments, while others will sell their homes. The remainder will need a reduction in their monthly payment to an affordable level to remain in their home. However, the combination of the...

The National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), the Center for Responsible Lending, and the National Housing Law Project submitted this comment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in response to a request for information regarding mortgage refinances and forbearances.

More than 44 million people in the United States—roughly one in six adults—collectively hold more than $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt. Although many Americans are burdened by their student loan debt, borrowers who attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been especially hard hit, due to the impacts of systemic racism on wealth accumulation for families and...

The Protecting Wages Act will keep more money in the pockets of working people struggling to pay rent and put food on the table, while still allowing the collection industry to collect debts. Protects Enough Wages for Basic Needs From Seizure: Protects $1,000 in disposable earnings per week from being seized for old debts, or 75% of disposable earnings, whichever...

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program is a federal program that forgives loan balances for those working for the government or in the nonprofit sector after 120 qualifying payments. Download the factsheet to take advantage of this temporary expanded benefit before October 31st.

Over the past decade, the high-cost small-dollar loan market, once dominated by short-term balloon payment payday loans, has seen the rise of high-cost installment loans with longer terms. Payday loans are typically repaid in a lump-sum, usually due in 14-day periods. Installment loans tend to be larger in size and repaid in several installments, typically over a period of several...

The market for personal loans is massive and growing, yet the fintechs and other non-bank lenders who make such loans are not subject to regular oversight by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which has “created an unlevel playing field and a large risk to consumers,” write the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). The...

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), American Business Immigrant Coalition (ABIC), and more than 20 consumer, civil rights and advocacy groups and lenders, recently submitted a letter urging the U.S. Treasury Department and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to reverse the Good Faith Error Rule that has prevented more than 300,000 small business owners from obtaining forgiveness of Paycheck Protection...

Cars are essential for most households in the United States, but access to a safe, affordable vehicle is increasingly limited for many consumers by sharply rising prices, burdensome accompanying debt obligations, and problematic dealer practices. The cost of a vehicle represents such a significant proportion of many American households’ total annual income that over 88% of new car purchases and...

Letter signed by 110 national, state, and local consumer, civil rights, legal services, community, public interest organizations, consumer attorneys, and others in comment on the FTC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the sale, financing, and leasing of motor vehicles by dealers.

Morning Consult conducted a survey, commissioned by Center for Responsible Lending. The poll is presented as a short Powerpoint-style slide deck with key takeaways and charts. Key findings include: Millions struggled to meet their basic needs due to the burden of student debt Low-income borrowers in loan forgiveness programs were more likely to skip meals and face wage garnishment throughout...

Amid growing concern about corporate consolidation, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund are leading a letter calling for the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to reject a proposed merger between TD Bank and First Horizon Bank. Their comment letter points to several reasons why regulators should...

On August 18, 2022, Nadine Chabrier, senior litigation and policy counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending, provided testimony at a public meeting of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve System on the proposed merger of TD Bank and First Horizon Bank.

The Center for Responsible Lending and Center for Community Self-Help applaud the effort of the Agencies to update and modernize the CRA regulations given the massive changes that have taken place in the financial services industry in the more than 25 years since the regulations were last amended. Likewise, we support the overall thrust of the Agencies’ proposal, which provides...

The National Coalition for Asian American Community Development (National CAPACD), the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), and the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) are pleased to submit collective recommendations as the Building Back Better for Entrepreneurs of Color partnership to the interagency request for public input regarding the Community Reinvestment Act.

Nearly 500,000 people are currently detained pretrial in jails around the United States, in part due to high bail amounts set by the judicial system that individuals cannot afford. That is a six-fold increase in the U. S. pretrial population from the 1970s, when it was closer to 83,000 people detained. Bail is money required in exchange for release from...

Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans are designed to help borrowers make affordable student loan payments for no more than 20 or 25 years, depending on the type of plan. However, the complexity of these programs has made it notoriously difficult for borrowers to navigate: The application process is lengthy and requires annual re-enrollment; Servicing errors and abusive practices keep low-income borrowers...

More than 130 organizations representing students, student loan borrowers, teachers, workers, and consumers have sent a letter calling on the President to extend and expand the PSLF Waiver & IDR Adjustment student debt relief programs.

On July 8, the Center for Responsible Lending, California Reinvestment Coalition, Consumer Federation of California, National Consumer Law Center, Public Law Center, and UC Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice filed an amicus brief in Los Angeles County (California) Superior Court in Opportunity Financial v. Hewlett. Opportunity Financial v. Hewlett addresses the legality of Opportunity Financial’s “rent-a-bank” scheme...

While most homeowners with GSE-backed mortgages have recovered from pandemic-related hardships and reinstated their mortgage, as of June 7, about 1.6% of outstanding GSE borrowers were in a state of nonpayment: about 140,000 GSE-backed loans were in COVID-19 Forbearance, and another roughly 300,000 loans were delinquent outside of forbearance. For those GSE borrowers who were less than 2 months delinquent...

From the introduction to the comment: Accountable.US, Americans for Financial Reform, Center for Responsible Lending, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low income clients), Public Citizen, US PIRG and the Woodstock Institute submit these comments in connection with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) examination of Transportation Alliance Bank (dba TAB Bank). TAB...

On June 29, 2022, Mike Calhoun, CRL's president, testified before the House Committee on Financial Services for a hearing entitle, “Boom and Bust: Inequality, Homeownership, and the Long-Term Impacts of the Hot Housing Market.” His written testimony is available for download. Watch a recording of the hearing:

Women carry about two-thirds of the $1.7 trillion of federal student debt, with Black women more than twice as likely as white men to owe more than $50,000 in undergraduate student loan debt. Women carry about two-thirds of the $1.7 trillion of federal student debt, with Black women more than twice as likely as white men to owe more than...