Research

With huge profits at stake, the payday lending industry is fighting reform efforts by positioning itself as "consumer friendly," misrepresenting the facts, and circumventing state laws. Claim 1: Payday loans provide needed emergency credit. Claim 2: Payday lenders serve the working middle class. Claim 3: Customers understand the cost of this service. Claim 4: Payday loans are cheaper than other...

A Georgia statute passed in May 2004 imposes stiff penalties for payday lending by non-banks and in-state banks, and is the first state law to expressly prohibit payday lenders from contriving with out-of-state banks to evade state usury limits. Soon after its enactment, several payday lenders and their bank "partners" sued the state seeking a court ruling that the Act...

African-Americansand Latinos get high-priced subprimemortgages far more frequently than whites -- even when they are equally qualified, according to a groundbreaking new study from CRL. Lenders say they charge more because African-Americans and Latinos on average have shakier credit histories, which makes lending to them riskier. But that explanation is simply wrong. In the most extensive study of its kind...

VULNERABLE CONSUMERS CAUGHT IN OVERDRAFT CYCLE CRL has conducted a survey of overdraft loan customers. Our findings suggest that: * Sixteen percent of overdraft loan users account for 71 percent of fee-based overdraft loan fees. *Repeat users are more often low-income, single, non-white renters. * Repeat users are in effect using the overdraft loans as an expensive substitute for a...

The Center for Responsible Lending has released the most comprehensive study ever conducted on state laws aimed against predatory lending. "The Best Value in the Subprime Market: State Predatory Lending Reforms" shows that state laws are working well for credit-strapped families in the subprime market and for responsible lenders. With strong state laws, homeowners get these advantages: Stronger protections with...

In a new working paper "Call Protection in Mortgage Contracts" Michael LaCour-Little concludes that prepayment penalties reduce the cost of credit to borrowers. However, there are several shortcomings in his analysis: inadequate data, inconsistent results, and neglect of the negative effects of prepayment penalties.

To find a model for national legislation, many lawmakers need look no further than their own backyards. People who live in states with strong laws against predatory lending are more likely to get responsible mortgages at a lower cost. Our findings show that state laws enacted to prevent predatory mortgage lending work as intended to reduce abusive loan terms without...

This report is the first systematic investigation of the nature and extent of predatory lending in Maine. Based on research conducted during July and August 2005, we examine Maine's subprime mortgage market and determine the extent and impact of predatory lending in the state between 2000 and 2005. In this research we draw on a number of sources, including available...

Public Chapter 440 of the Acts of 2005 significantly amends the Tennessee Title Pledge Act ("Act"), set forth in Title 45, Chapter 15, regarding the operation and regulation of the title pledge industry. Specifically, Public Chapter 440 subjects the title pledge industry to licensing and examination by the Department of Financial Institutions ("Department"). Read CRL's summary of the report >

The fear of overwhelming credit card debt is driving many Americans to hand their equity back to mortgage lenders in the form of "cash-out" refinances. Rather than generating cash to invest in the family's future or cover short term emergencies, cash-out refinances frequently serve as equity-draining transactions that only repay ("consolidate") short-term debts, such as credit card balances. Worse, the...