Chairman Dodd's Financial Reform Bill Step in Right Direction

Statement from Michael Calhoun, President of the Center for Responsible Lending,

WASHINGTON, March 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- CRL commends Chairman Dodd in crafting a financial reform bill that addresses the deceptive lending practices and regulatory failures that have caused millions of families to lose their homes, decreased access to credit for small business owners and cost state and local governments billions in lost revenue.

To effectively remedy the lapses that wrecked our economy and resulted in the largest bailout in U.S. history, any final reform package must include a strong consumer financial protection agency that:

• is independent from banks' veto power over consumer protections;
• can write and enforce rules that address all abusive lending practices and cover all providers, including payday and auto lenders; and
• restores states' abilities to write and enforce rules governing predatory financial practices:

More than a year ago, taxpayers bailed out the Wall Street banks that brought our economy to the brink of collapse. Today, these same players are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to derail a financial reform package that would get our economy back on track and provide safeguards against a recurrence of this calamity. Unchecked, their actions will mean even greater losses for our economy and for taxpayers.

In December, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation, which we supported, to protect consumers from continued abuse. We look forward to working with Chairman Dodd and the Senate Banking Committee to ensure passage of a strong, bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate.

About the Center for Responsible Lending

The Center for Responsible Lending is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and policy organization dedicated to protecting homeownership and family wealth by working to eliminate abusive financial practices. CRL is affiliated with Self-Help, one of the nation's largest community development financial institutions.

SOURCE Center for Responsible Lending