The full letter begins: We, the undersigned civil rights and consumer advocacy organizations, ask you to oppose S.J. Res. 57, the Congressional Review Act (CRA), introduced by Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), intended to undo the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB or Consumer Bureau) Indirect Auto Lending Guidance, published over five years ago. This resolution is the latest in a series...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
This proposal was created by the undersigned consumer and civil rights groups in response to the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ (Banking Committee) request for proposals to foster economic growth. The proposals revolve around 1) promoting responsible, sustainable homeownership and other responsible lending products for borrowers from low-and moderate income (LMI) households, communities of color...