Research & Policy

In recent decades, an increase in consumer debt has led to substantial growth in the debt collection industry as Americans struggled to pay down their debts. A subset of the debt collection industry, debt buyers, emerged in the wake of this growth in consumer debt. Debt buyers purchase debts from lenders and other creditors at a steep discount and then attempt to collect the debt themselves, often without the underlying documentation of the debt. With the advent and growth of debt buyers has come an increase in the use of litigation to collect debts. Because of their use of the court system to...

Congressional Review Act S.J. Res. 57 seeks to nullify the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 2013 guidance addressing indirect auto lending. This guidance describes auto lenders’ responsibility, established by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, to avoid discriminatory lending practices. Download this factsheet for more information on these discriminatory practices.

The payday lenders promote myths in an effort to kill the CFPB’s payday loan rule aimed at stopping their 300% interest debt trap. The facts that dispel some common myths can be found here.

Over 100 North Carolina organizations have joined this state sign-on letter to strongly oppose payday lending. These groups include military and veterans associations, faith organizations, housing and credit counseling agencies, rural, business, civil rights, seniors and labor groups, among many others. They urge our North Carolina congressional delegation to strongly oppose H.J. Resolution 122 and S.J. Resolution 56, fast-track measures that would repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s payday rule. These bills not only repeal the rule, they also prevent the consumer bureau from...

H.R. 4861 (Hollingsworth), the so-called EQUAL Act, invites banks to get back into the business of 200-300% interest payday loans that trap customers in unaffordable debt. The bill would rescind the FDIC’s 2013 guidance addressing bank payday (“deposit advance)” loans; exempt banks and credit unions from the CFPB’s final payday loan rule; and provide for express federal preemption of state law for bank and credit union small dollar loans.

Mark Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League Michael F. Molesky, senior financial economist Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) The proposed housing finance legislation would impose great harm on affordable housing efforts and the overall housing market. Proponents of the legislation do not address the damage the proposal would do by repealing the existing structural protections for equitable housing access for all areas of the country, all lenders, and all credit-worthy borrowers. In addition, their cost projections for the proposed system use...

Any proposal should hold to the spirit of the original HEA which sought to open the doors of higher education to all. This proposition connotes meaningful access and opportunity to quality higher education programs, not simply the creation of more options or the provision of unduly burdensome loans. Despite this goal, our current system is at risk of curtailing the access it first envisioned. Thus, any reauthorization should focus on the outcomes for those who have been traditionally shut out of higher education: low-income students and students of color. To do this, any HEA reauthorization...

The so-called "Madden fix" bill would make it easier for predatory payday lenders and other non-banks using rent-a-bank arrangements or partnerships to override state interest rate caps and make loans of 300% annual interest or higher. Unaffordable payday loans and other triple-digit interest predatory loans have devastating consequences for already financially distressed borrowers—trapping them in a cycle of debt and increasing the likelihood of delinquency on other bills, delayed medical care, bankruptcy, and eviction. Download the two-pager to learn the full dangers of the rent-a-bank...

Almost eight years after Colorado enacted a payday law reform bill in 2010, payday lenders in Colorado continue to ensnare customers in a cycle of high-cost debt. Customers are drawn in by promises of easy cash. But as the high costs mount, the struggle to cover monthly expenses is compounded by the struggle to cover the cost of the payday loan. The resulting cycle of debt is often difficult to escape. This report analyzes data published by the Colorado Attorney General’s Consumer Credit Unit (2016 Deferred Deposit/Payday Lenders Annual Report) , and the Attorney General’s Demographic and...

The Trump Administration and Congressional leaders have taken actions that put corporate interests ahead of struggling students. Download a factsheet of important legislative and regulatory actions for which to watch.

S. 2155 would re-expose consumers to reckless and abusive financial practices, including many that contributed to the last recession and foreclosure crisis. The bill weakens crucial consumer protections, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Qualified Mortgage (QM) rule and Ability-to-Repay standard. The bill would also let Wall Street greed once again threaten to bring down the U.S. economy. Download the two-page factsheet.

Ten groups filed this amicus brief in support of the continued independence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This brief appeals the trial court’s denial of a preliminary injunction allowing Leandra English to serve as acting director of the CFPB. The litigation regarding whether the lawful acting director is English or U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney continues.

CRL Director of Federal Advocacy, Scott Astrada, appeared before the HFSC's Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee on January 9th, 2018 to deliver testimony for a hearing tittled "Legislative Proposals for a More Efficient Federal Financial Regulatory Regime: Part III." He spoke on the following bills: H.R. 2683, a bill to prevent veterans' credit scores from unfairly being hurt by inaccurately reported medical debts. CRL supports supports the bill and views it as a positive step forward to protect veterans from credit reporting errors. We further encourage Congress to...

Nearly 74 million people, about a quarter of the United States population, live in rural areas. That includes 15 million people of color. But according to the authors of a new paper published by the Center on Regulation and Markets at Brookings, these families are often overlooked in policy discussions on proposed changes to the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), which provide the largest share of mortgage financing in rural areas. GSE mortgage financing meets a critical rural housing need, and it also supports community banks, which are often the only full-service financial institution...

Leading civil and human rights organizations and housing policy advocates are urging both the U.S. Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees to demand that stakeholders--now excluded from current Congressional discussion on reforming the nation’s housing finance system--be expanded to include all voices and perspectives. The top policy concern of the organizations is to preserve the current system’s access and affordability provisions, especially the Affordable Housing Goals. They are also concerned that the nation’s homeownership rate is still declining and rental housing rates...

The PROSPER Act is yet another boost for the private sector instead of consumers and taxpayers. At a time when college affordability is increasingly beyond the financial reach of most Americans, the future of higher education and student lending will affect both consumers and our nation’s ability to effectively compete in a global economy. With more than 44 million Americans in debt for $1.4 trillion in loans, the PROSPER Act sidesteps actions that would effectively address this unsustainable debt and increase college access to create a financial climate that further benefits for‐profit...

This letter to Virginia Foxx, chairwoman of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, voices CRL's strong opposition to H.R. 4508, "Promoting Real Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity through Education Reform (PROSPER) Act." Prosperity and economic security are laudable and elusive goals for many Americans, and we believe the Higher Education Act should play a key role in increasing affordability and access to quality educational programs for all, especially low-income students and students of color. Unfortunately, the PROSPER Act does nothing to make this goal more attainable...

The undersigned organizations oppose H.R. 3971, the so‐called “Community Institution Mortgage Relief Act of 2017.” This bill would create loopholes for abuse by rolling back essential consumer protections and inappropriately extending to larger institutions the carefully tailored exemptions that currently apply to community banks and other small institutions. The bill expands an existing exemption from the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) for small mortgage servicers from those servicing 5,000 loans held in portfolio or in that of the affiliate to those servicing 20,000 loans...

This amicus brief, filed on behalf of ten consumer advocacy groups in support of English’s motion for a preliminary injunction, explains the importance of confirming English's position for the American consumer.

The Center for Responsible Lending, the Community Reinvestment Coalition, and the National Consumer Law Center released this analysis detailing their reasons for opposing S. 2155, a bill that rolls back or eliminates Dodd-Frank's protections for consumers and for economic stability.

One day after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) rescinded its 2013 guidance to curb predatory bank payday loans, more than 230 ( updated) faith, consumer advocate, and civil rights organizations from across the country sent a letter to America's banks urging them to pledge that they will not begin making payday loans and to oppose the rollback of the important consumer protections that keep other banks from doing so.

CRL executive vice president, Nikitra Bailey, appeared before the HFSC Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance on October 25, 2017 to deliver testimony on the “Sustainable Housing Finance: Private Sector Perspectives on Housing Finance Reform” focusing on: Homeownership is vital for American families Congress must address the housing finance system’s legacy of discrimination Future reforms must build on the strong reforms in HERA and the new mortgage protections by Dodd-Frank and the CFPB Download the oral testimony (PDF) or the complete written testimony. (PDF)

Download an overview of the main points in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) final payday loan rule.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued the first part of a final national rule that addresses payday and car title lending. For years, civil rights organizations, consumer advocates, faith groups, working families, and others across the country have pushed for a rule to protect their communities from the payday lending debt trap. This rule represents another step forward in protecting the millions of people lenders intentionally trap in 300-plus percent interest loans. We expect payday and car title lenders to aggressively attempt to block the rule, which is based on the...

The Center for Responsible Lending and the undersigned consumer, civil rights, and community organizations would like to thank you for the opportunity to submit comments on the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) proposed rule setting the 2018-2020 Affordable Housing Goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (“Enterprises”). We appreciate FHFA’s efforts to improve strategies to ensure those from lower wealth communities have access to the market and homeownership. While we support the FHFA’s efforts, we believe that the tests proposed would set unnecessarily low goal standards and would not be...