Charlene Crowell, a senior fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending, highlights how the current administration’s efforts to defund or undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) hurt working families while protecting Wall Street and corporate interests. Court rulings have now forced the administration to restore CFPB funding, reinstate employees, and resume its oversight work, which prevents billions in consumer losses from predatory financial practices.
Tag: Center for Responsible Lending
Posted inBaltimore News
Baltimore sues MoneyLion over predatory paycheck advance loans
Baltimore has filed a lawsuit against fintech company MoneyLion, alleging the app traps residents in high-cost, short-term loans known as “Instacash.” City officials say the company’s misleading marketing and optional fees have disproportionately harmed the city’s most financially vulnerable residents.
Posted inEducation
Pell Grants at peril: 7 million recipients face $9 billion program cut
Charlene Crowell is a senior fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending. In this piece, she examines how a House-passed FY 2026 budget proposal that cuts $9 billion from Pell Grant funding, threatens access to higher education for millions of low-income students by reducing grant amounts, tightening eligibility, and disproportionately impacting adult learners and students of color.
Posted inBUSINESS
A loan shark in your pocket: Cellphone payday loan apps leave many consumers worse off
Predatory earned wage advance (EWA) apps are trapping low-income workers in cycles of high-interest debt, with borrowers often reborrowing at rates equivalent to 300 percent APR or more. Consumer advocates and regulators warn that without stronger financial protections, these apps will continue to exploit vulnerable Americans, deepening financial insecurity rather than alleviating it.