Research & Policy

This factsheet outlines how H.R. 3564, which would reverse recent FHFA updates to mortgage pricing, would leave borrowers and taxpayers less financially secure.

Millions of Americans continue to experience financial precarity, and this report illustrates how payday and car-title lending extract financial resources from communities across the United States.

Payday lenders charge exorbitant fees to borrowers without assessing their ability to repay, and the annual interest rates on these loans are in the triple digits.

From the letter: We strongly believe many of the reforms being considered today will harm consumers and the financial markets. These misguided approaches will place every American taxpayer at risk by increasing the likelihood that our nation’s economy may suffer yet another financial crisis. There are two proposals that are especially concerning. The first increases the asset thresholds at which...

From the letter: We strongly believe many of the reforms being considered today will harm consumers and the financial markets. These misguided approaches will place every American taxpayer at risk by increasing the likelihood that our nation’s economy may suffer yet another financial crisis. There are two proposals that are especially concerning. The first increases the asset thresholds at which...

Today, more than 44 million Americans are crushed under the weight of $1.7 trillion in student loan debt. This debt prevents borrowers – in red states and blue states, urban and rural communities – from fully participating in the American economy. It delays or denies borrowers the opportunity to buy a home, start a business, or invest in retirement, thereby...

This CRL letter to Congress expresses support for the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) updates to its mortgage pricing framework, including FHFA’s assessment on lenders of fees known as Loan Level Pricing Adjustments (LLPAs). The letter also urges Congress to reject H.R. 3564, the so-called Middle-Class Borrower Protection Act, a bill that would rescind FHFA’s recent updates.

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) expressed support for the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation’s (DFPI) proposal to clarify that fintech cash advances are covered by the California Financing Law (CFL), including its fee and interest rate limits. The proposal requires that lenders be licensed under the CFL, with a temporary licensing...

The undersigned organizations commend the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) for moving to regulate abusive fintech lenders, including earned wage advance providers. We are very pleased to support the proposed rules and encourage the DFPI to vigorously enforce them to ensure that California’s most vulnerable consumers are not harmed. Signatories California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA) CA Labor Federation...

The CFPB plays an integral role in the nation’s financial system. The Bureau’s work ensures that the system functions in a manner that is responsive to the interests of all market participants—consumers, large financial entities, and smaller institutions like Amici. Congress’s chosen method of funding the Bureau underpins the Bureau’s ability to do this important work, free from the outsized...

The 261 organizations representing millions of students, workers, people of color, veterans, people with disabilities, consumers, and people of faith write in strong opposition to bicameral efforts to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn President Biden's actions to pause student loan payments and provide student debt relief for low-income and working-class Americans continuing to recover from the deadly...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in two cases challenging the Education Department’s debt relief program. The first lawsuit, Biden v. Nebraska, was filed by several Republican-controlled states claiming that debt relief will hurt the profits of a private student loan servicer chartered by one of the states and may negatively affect future state tax revenues. The other suit...

From the introduction to the letter: On behalf of the undersigned national, state, and local organizations, we urge you to oppose the dangerous package of bills titled the “CFPB Transparency and Accountability Reform Act” that threaten the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) funding, organizational structure, and its ability to monitor the marketplace by impeding their rulemaking functions. This package would...

CRL and more than 50 organizations committed to gender justice submitted a comment in support of strengthening the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Proposed Rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, which was published in the Federal Register on February 9, 2023 (HUD Docket No. FR 6250-P-01) (Proposed Rule).

Opportunity Financial, also known as OppFi, is a consumer lending company based in Chicago, Illinois that offers personal installment loans. Their marketing suggests they are providing an essential service to the credit and income constrained; their products, however, carry triple-digit Annual Percentage Rates (APRs). Public filings reveal a business model built around high levels of delinquency and default. According to...

Opportunity Financial, also known as OppFi, is a consumer lending company based in Chicago, Illinois that offers personal installment loans. Although OppFi’s stated mission is to “empower everyday consumers to rebuild their financial health,” OppFi is a legacy subprime lender. The company uses a rent-a-bank scheme to evade consumer protections and charge customers triple-digit interest rates on its personal installment...

In response to a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) notice that it intends to issue regulation, CRL joined a coalition of consumer groups in calling for FTC action to rein-in junk fees. Among other topics, this comment letter highlights a CRL report on installment loan companies that would tack on credit insurance and “automobile club memberships” – charges that meet multiple...

CRL submitted this letter for the record on the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development hearing entitled, "Breaking the System: Examining the Implications of Biden's Student Loan Policies for Students and Taxpayers."

National CAPACD, NALCAB, and the Center for Responsible Lending submitted this letter to support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) final Section 1071 regulation which will improve relationship banking by creating a robust and comprehensive data collection regime that helps ensure that small business lending is fair and accessible to entrepreneurs from all communities in the United States.

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), National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Public Citizen, US PIRG and the Woodstock Institute submitted comments for the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) examination of First Electronic Bank. First Electronic Bank helps at least two nonbank lenders...

Cash-strapped borrowers are being enticed into using the home equity they have accumulated as an ATM and cash-out refinance loans will damage their long-term financial health.

Earned Wage Advance (EWA) providers market a means for workers to access their wages before payday, usually for a fee. In reality, there are two very different types of products that are marketed as EWA, one of which—sometimes called “faux EWA”— is simply a payday loan dressed up in “fintech” marketing. While low-wage workers can benefit from true EWA programs...

CRL policy counsel Monica Burks recommends Vermont lawmakers decline to codify an Earned Wage Advance business model that could risk enabling payday lending-like debt traps in a state with an 18% usury cap.

From 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 lowincome clients), National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Public Citizen, US PIRG and the Woodstock Institute submit these comments in connection with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) examination of FinWise Bank. FinWise Bank helps several nonbank...

The Center for Responsible Lending submitted a letter for the record on the House Committee on Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy hearing entitled, “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Ripe for Reform.” The letter details the importance of the CFPB and draws on new data from Republican polling firm Chesapeake Beach Consulting and Democratic firm Lake Research Partners...