Research & Policy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 5, 2017 North Carolina Consumer Protections Remain Crucial As CFPB Releases New Payday Lending Rule North Carolina Usury Cap Keeps Loan Sharks at Bay Durham, NC — While consumers in states that are burdened by predatory payday lending will benefit from a final rule issued today by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), North Carolina has already eliminated payday lending altogether and established a 30% interest rate cap for consumer loans. Our cap is a much more effective protection than the CFPB rule, as it saves North Carolina families over $457...

Enfoque is a Spanish information service of CRL's Latino Affairs. All the content is in Spanish; the hyperlinks throughout the document land on the original sources on our website or mostly English pages. No 1 | Vol VIII | 2017 No 1 | Vol VII | 2016 No 1 | Vol VI | 2015 No 1 | Vol V | 2012 No 2 | Vol IV | 2011

Enacted by Congress in 1975, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requires an annual public accounting of the nation’s mortgage lending. Its data provides critical information for both the public and financial sectors by alerting the nation to trends on the groups of Americans that are actually receiving mortgage loans from financial institutions. For the third straight year, CRL’s HMDA analysis finds that mortgage lending overall has not been affected by lending rules like the Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgages, also known as QM. Instead, lending trends show incremental increases...

This letter urges Congress to support the Senate and House companion bills, S. 1659/H.R. 3760, the “Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act,” sponsored by Senator Richard Durbin, Senator Jeff Merkley, Representative Matt Cartwright, and Representative Steve Cohen. The Senate and House bills would extend to all consumers a 36 percent usury APR cap. A fair rate cap will protect consumers by curbing abuses in the high-cost small dollar loan market, while permitting responsible lending on reasonable terms to continue. A strong rate cap also has strong public support, with a large...

Payday lending is a high-cost loan product that is built on its ability to churn consumers through a cycle of debt, collecting fees for as long as possible. Fortunately, 15 states and the District of Columbia have made a definitive statement to prohibit high-cost payday loans by adopting interest rate caps of 36% or less. The experiences of consumers in payday-free states show that eliminating the payday debt trap brings a host of positive benefits. This report draws on years of research (including academic studies, surveys and focus group results) to outline and articulate the evidence from...

This poll conducted by Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting shows overwhelming support among likely voters for policy proposals that assist those with education debt, with particularly high support for proposals that permit borrowers to refinance existing loans2 and to create flexible repayment options. 91 percent of voters favor permitting borrowers to refinance their existing student loans at a lower interest rate. 90 percent of voters favor creating flexible options for people with education debt to make affordable payments depending on their income. 70 percent of voters...

Our top priorities for the 2017 NC General Assembly session were to keep payday and car title lenders out of North Carolina, to defend our strong debt buyer and debt collection protections and our strong mortgage lending protections, and to look for opportunities to strengthen other lending protections while guarding against any proposals to weaken them. This 2017 session of the NC General Assembly was dominated by attempts to weaken Gubernatorial powers, address fallout from the “bathroom bill”, and redraw state district maps under court order. But legislators still found time to help...

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), and 150 national and state organizations urge Members of Congress to reject S. 1642 and H.R. 3299, legislation that pose serious risks of enabling a vast expansion of predatory lending across the country. Specifically, the legislation makes it easier for payday lenders and other nonbanks to use rent-a bank arrangements to ignore state interest rate caps and make high-rate loans. The potential costs and damage to consumers are significant, the groups warn. S. 1642 and H.R. 3299 could potentially expand short-term...

First, we note that the affordable housing goals are part of the FHFA’s clearly laid out mission to reach underserved communities and that increasing access to mortgage credit in these communities is essential to the housing recovery. Second, we recommend that the FHFA maintain the two-part test, and strongly urge that the FHFA set a higher benchmark standard and require that both standards be matched or surpassed. Third, we contend that how FHFA addresses findings of failure to meet a metric is critical and recommend the FHFA act more assertively to enforce procedures in the Housing and...

Before the Joint Hearing of the California Assembly Select Committee on Youth and California’s Future and Assembly Banking and Finance Committee Graciela Aponte-Diaz presented the following information in her testimony: First, a snapshot of student loan borrowers, nationally and here in California; Second, highlight major issues with student loan servicing; and Finally, I’d like to provide some policy recommendations for our state to ensure student loan borrowers are treated fairly when trying to repay their loans

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), and New Economy Project filed an amicus brief in Roberts v. Capital One Financial Corporation, in support of the plaintiff, Tawanna M. Roberts, against Capital One’s misleading overdraft fee practice. In the brief, submitted earlier this month, the group urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to overturn a district court ruling in favor of the bank.

These comments respond to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed amendments to the qualified-mortgage (QM) rule as it relates to 1) the importance of the QM rule, 2) why the constrained lending environment is due to factors other than QM, and 3) why they should be addressed rather than weakening QM, 4) our analysis of CFPB’s proposed evaluation, and 5) possible responsible changes to the Ability-to-Repay/QM rules.

Payday lending involves small‐dollar, high‐interest loans that trap consumers into a long‐term cycle of debt and fees. Payday lenders tout themselves as a needed service providing access to emergency credit. However, with weak underwriting and ability to repay standards, the payday loan model creates a debt trap that is easy to get into, but extremely difficult to escape. Each year, payday loans strip $4.2 billion in fees from consumers across the country. In Colorado, payday lenders cost consumers over $50 million in fees for 2015. Majority‐minority areas in Colorado (over 50% African...

Dear Coalition Supporters, Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its final rule to rein in arbitration abuses and improve access to the judicial system for all consumers. This week, US House and Senate members have introduced Congressional Review Act (CRA) Resolutions to overturn this CFPB rule. We expect the US House to vote on its CRA resolution as early as Tuesday. On the Senate side, our NC Senator Thom Tillis is one of the leaders in the attempt to overturn this rule: “Setting aside the looming questions surrounding the constitutionality, this CFPB rule is a...

During their evening news, Portland’s KBOO interviewed CRL Senior Policy Counsel Melissa Stegman on forced arbitration clauses. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently issued a rule that prohibits financial contracts from forcing consumers into arbitration and blocking consumers from pursuing a class action suit against the company. Powerful Members of Congress are fast-tracking legislation to repeal the rule – which would let financial companies steal and deny Americans their day in court. Listen to the interview now.

For the fifth consecutive year, a poll conducted by Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting shows overwhelming and bipartisan support among likely voters for regulation and oversight of the financial services industry. Backing from Republicans is at historic highs. Voters also believe that Wall Street's influence in Washington is high and growing under the Trump administration, and are wary of lawmakers who take money from the industry. Download the polling memo (pdf) or view the toplines. (pdf)

Banks once drained $500 million from customers annually by trapping them in harmful payday loans. In 2013, six banks were making triple-digit interest payday loans, structured just like loans made by storefront payday lenders. The bank repaid itself the loan in full directly from the borrower’s next incoming direct deposit, typically wages or Social Security, along with annual interest averaging 225% to 300%. Like other payday loans, these loans were debt traps, marketed as a quick fix to a financial shortfall. In total, at their peak, these loans—even with only six banks making them—drained...

Dear Coalition Supporters, This update discusses serious threats from the federal level to our NC protections against predatory lending as well as several positive actions in NC and nationally. It includes recent developments about payday lending, student lending, housing finance reform and the new arbitration ban. And it discusses the threat of Congress dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), our main watchdog on Wall Street, including the impact on the military. For up to date developments, follow me and CRL on Twitter and "like" CRL on Facebook. Also, over the next few...

Watch Scott Astrada's opening statement and the entire hearing:

The Center for Responsible Lending, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, National Fair Housing Alliance, and National Urban League file this comment in response to Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's (the Enterprises) proposed Underserved Markets Plans. (pdf) Thank you for the opportunity to provide input on the Enterprises’ plans. The content of the proposed plans is critical to determining whether the Enterprises are fulfilling their Duty to Serve obligations in each underserved market – manufactured...

The Center for Responsible Lending, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, National Fair Housing Alliance, and National Urban League file this comment in response to Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's (the Enterprises) proposed Underserved Markets Plans. Thank you for the opportunity to provide input on the Enterprises’ plans. The content of the proposed plans is critical to determining whether the Enterprises are fulfilling their Duty to Serve obligations in each underserved market – manufactured housing...

On Thursday, June 28th, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) President Mike Calhoun testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for a hearing entitled "Principles of Housing Finance Reform." In his written testimony, he stated that the "goal must be to ensure that the full universe of credit worthy borrowers – regardless of where they live, including in rural areas, or who they are – have access to the credit they need to be able to secure a mortgage so that they can build their American dreams. The system must also continue to offer equal access for lenders of...

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) sent a letter to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) rebutting the committee’s majority staff report criticizing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) role in investigating Wells Fargo’s fraudulent account scheme.

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) filed this comment in response to FHFA's proposed evaluation guidance for the Duty to Serve Rule. The evaluation guidance is the method for FHFA to assess Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's (the Enterprises) Duty to Serve Underserved Markets Plans. The strength and clarity of the evaluation guidance will greatly inform the Enterprises' plans. A successful evaluation process is inextricably linked with a successful plan development process. These comments provide recommendations with respect to public input and transparency, assessing the content of the plans...

Last week, calls were made to eliminate the GSE affordable housing goals as a means to move forward legislation to reform the secondary housing finance market. This misguided attempt is not new, and it would harm creditworthy borrowers who cannot access the mortgage credit they deserve, deny them their chance at the American Dream of homeownership, and weaken our nation’s economy.