Center for Responsible Lending

Homeownership is a primary vehicle for #WealthBuilding, but for too many families, it is out of reach. Our new analysis found that period a renter family at the median income needs to save for a down payment and closing costs has doubled since 2019. julianbondinstitute.org/publ…

College was supposed to be ‘good debt.’ For many borrowers, it isn’t paying off cnbc.com/2026/10/15/student-…

New interactive map: “The Cost of Payday Loan Apps in Your State” Find the high costs of payday loan apps in your state and download a factsheet for each state: responsiblelending.org/resea… #PaydayLoanApps #StopTheDebtTrap

High-APR lender @enova abandons $369 million @grasshopperbank deal, cites regulatory uncertainty, "political pressure and outside advocacy" Chicago-based Enova announced it is withdrawing its applications to the OCC and the Federal Reserve related to its proposed $369 million deal to acquire of Grasshopper Bank. (Full disclosure, I worked at Enova from 2011-2013). The proposed acquisition was announced in December 2025. Enova operates multiple consumer and SMB lending brands, including CashNetUSA, NetCredit, and OnDeck, via state licenses and bank lending partnerships. Rates on its consumer products reach into the triple digits, driving a number of consumer advocacy groups and politicians to publicly oppose the deal. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MA) to the OCC and the Fed this May. A group of 20 state attorneys general followed suit, arguing that granting bank privileges to high-cost lenders like Enova "should be cause for alarm." Consumer advocacy groups, including the Center for Responsible Lending, the National Consumer Law Center, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, and the Woodstock Institute, among others, also voiced opposition to the deal. In a call held yesterday, Enova's CEO, Steven Cunningham, commented on the decision, saying, "[T]he bank application process has not evolved enough to clearly articulate the standards for nonbanks like Enova, who serve customers whose credit needs have traditionally been met mostly outside of the banking system. Without these clearly articulated standards, the process is susceptible to influence political pressure and outside advocacy, independent of the merits of the application itself." In response to questions on that call, Cunningham emphasized Enova continues to have a strong and diversified funding strategy, and that access to deposit funding was not the primary motivator for the deal. Cunningham also clarified that neither the Fed nor the OCC took any decision on the applications before them. Reiterating that there are not "clear guidelines" for such applications from non-traditional lenders like Enova, Cunningham added, "[O]thers have seen these in the past, you face a long, costly, time-consuming back and forth of additional requests or you could face the potential for conditions that fundamentally change your business or you could face flat-out denials in addition to approvals." Fellow Chicago-area high APR lender OppFi is also in the process of attempting to secure OCC and Fed approval of its proposed acquisition of BNCCORP and its subsidiary, BNC National Bank, in a $130 million deal announced in April 2026. OppFi has faced similar opposition to its proposed acquisition, and, as of now, the deal remains pending, awaiting regulatory approval.