Research

Read the executive summary (pdf) >> Unfair bank practices threaten to shred the safety net of Social Security for older Americans New CRL research finds that unauthorized overdrafts strip fees from Americans 55 and older at the level of $4.5 billion per year. Nearly $1 billion of that comes from people who are heavily dependent on Social Security income. CRL's...

A new CRL survey finds respondents prefer that their bank or credit union deny debit card purchases that are not covered by the funds in their checking account, whether their purchase is for $5, $20 or $40. More consumers are enrolled in the most expensive option than any other option for covering overdrafts, the survey also finds.

"Steered Wrong" Executive Summary In recent years, a majority of subprime loans made in the United States have been originated by mortgage brokers, who can properly be characterized as the "engine" of the subprime market. The rapid growth of subprime lending was fueled by thousands of mortgage brokers across the country delivering billions of dollars of subprime loans to mortgage...

Court-supervised modifications: Preventing foreclosures and lost community wealth No matter where you live, the subprime crisis is causing unnecessary foreclosures and draining resources in your community. By lifting the ban on court-supervised load modifications for qualified homeowners, Congress can help nearly 600,000 families nationwide keep their homes and help communities retain an estimated $89 million in tax revenues. To find...

This report is part of CRL's continuing Countrywide Watch project, which is dedicated to tracking Countrywide's conduct and efforts to reform the company. Analysis of customer complaints, lawsuits, regulatory actions, news accounts, government reports and company documents identifies several areas of concern, including predatory lending, the marketing of dangerous products, loan servicing abuses and weak corporate governance. The Center for...

After denying for months that a foreclosure crisis even exists, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) now claims lenders are making "vast efforts" to prevent foreclosure. Unfortunately, the numbers show little progress. During the third quarter of 2007, mortgage lenders started about 213,000 foreclosures on subprime loans, but offered meaningful fixes ("loan modifications") on only 28,000. What are Loan Modifications? When...