Research & Policy

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...

From the introduction to the letter: The undersigned civil rights, student, community, and consumer advocacy organizations, along with faith leaders from across the country, urge you to use the authority of executive action to cancel $50,000 of federal student loan debt per borrower to stimulate the economy, bridge the racial wealth gap, and alleviate the financial suffering of millions of...

NALCAB, the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, The National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (CAPACD), and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) write in response to the invitation for public comments regarding changes made to the Community Advantage Pilot Program (CA) noticed in the Federal Register on April 29th, 2022. Access to capital is one of...

A broad coalition of 529 community, civil rights, education, climate, health, consumer, labor, professional, food and farm, and student advocacy organizations wrote a letter to President Biden urging him to strengthen the economy, tackle racial disparities, and provide much-needed relief to help all Americans weather the pandemic and record inflation by using executive authority to cancel federal student debt immediately...

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) recently hosted a panel discussion to examine the student debt experience of students who attend or who have graduated from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The group put faces to data as they discuss student debt cancellation and its potential impacts, particularly on people of color. Serving as moderator was Jaylon Herbin, CRL...

A coalition of consumer advocacy groups sent letters to major national auto repair chains AAMCO and Precision Tune Auto Care (Icahn Enterprises), Big O Tires and Midas (TBC Corporation), Grease Monkey (FullSpeed Automotive), JiffyLube, and Meineke (Driven Brands) urging their stores and franchisees to stop offering financing through EasyPay Finance and Utah-based TAB Bank, which issue loans at rates up...

The student debt crisis has been building for decades, and millions of families have seen their dreams derailed by unaffordable debt repayment burdens that block their path to financial stability. As college costs rose, students had to take on increasing amounts of debt to pay for higher education. At the same time, state student financial aid offerings were drastically reduced...

Next to owning a home, business equity is the largest source of wealth in the United States. Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, providing almost half of all jobs in the U.S. and creating nearly two-thirds of all new jobs. Yet barriers to credit access prevent Americans from starting businesses and building generational wealth, further widening the...

Today, the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC), National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC), and Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) sent a letter to the largest trade organizations representing student loan lenders and servicers underscoring their legal obligation to faithfully implement the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) recent fix for income-driven repayment (IDR).

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), along with Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), Consumer Federation of America (CFA), the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), and National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) (on behalf of its low-income clients) submitted a comment letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in response to their call for public input on how to save Americans...

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Many FHA borrowers took advantage of record-low interest rates during the COVI9-19 pandemic and refinanced their mortgage. However, as of November 2021, there were over 4 million FHA borrowers who could realize a substantial reduction in their monthly payments by refinancing but had not done so. The average borrower in this cohort would save $229 per month ($2,750 per year)...

Two vital elements of social and economic mobility are to increase the homeownership rate by enabling more non-homeowners to become first-time homebuyers and reduce the racial disparities in homeownership rates caused in large part by deliberate discriminatory policies and practices. The Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) have the ability to improve both through their affordable housing goals and lending programs. The...

The exploding market of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) credit demands the same level of oversight that we give to credit cards. BNPL can help some borrowers spread out their payments, but entails real risks and costs, which is not clear in advertisements highlighting interest-free payments and “no impact” on credit scores. Regulation is necessary to protect consumers from hidden...

The undersigned civil rights organizations do not believe the mandatory July 1 compliance date extension for the General QM Final Rule until October 1, 2022 is necessary since the new General QM definition and the Patch overlap so thoroughly. Please download the letter to continue reading.

A broad coalition of bank and credit union associations and consumer organizations submitted a letter to the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services urging passage of the bipartisan Close the ILC Loophole Act. The bill would help prevent more companies from running what is essentially a bank without the necessary regulatory oversight.

“Income-share agreements,” or ISAs, fund a portion of educational costs in exchange for a percentage of a student’s earnings over time. Many ISA providers continue to argue that their products are not loans even though they lend money and subsequently require repayment, employing an old and predatory tactic that loan providers use to evade consumer protection guardrails. In fact, ISAs...

In response to the Request for Comments issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Center for Responsible Lending, the Consumer Federation of America, and the National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients) offer joint recommendations for further guidance and monitoring of the growing Buy-Now-Pay-Later market overall, which are specific to the "pay-in-four" model. Our comment covers...