Center for Responsible Lending
The Center for Responsible Lending is a non-partisan nonprofit research and advocacy organization that fights predatory lending through policy research, testimony, litigation, and a coalition of nearly 200 consumer, civil rights, and labor organizations, serving low- and moderate-income families and families of color across the United States.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2002
- HeadquartersDurham, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Center for Responsible Lending does
The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) is a non-partisan nonprofit research and advocacy organization founded in 2002 and headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, with additional offices in Washington, DC and Oakland, California. CRL operates as the policy affiliate of Self-Help, one of the nation's largest nonprofit community development financial institutions, and leverages Self-Help's more than 40 years of community lending experience to inform its work. Its mission centers on protecting low- and moderate-income families and families of color from predatory lending practices, including payday loans, car title loans, high-cost installment loans, subprime auto lending, earned wage advance products, and abusive student loan servicing.
CRL's work product consists of research reports, policy analyses, legislative testimony, amicus briefs, and coalition letters distributed free of charge to policymakers, journalists, and the public. The organization maintains an archive of over 1,260 research and policy publications and leads a coalition of nearly 200 labor, consumer, civil rights, and community organizations. Its research sub-brand, the Julian Bond Institute for Financial Equity Research, focuses on the racial wealth gap, while litigation efforts are pursued in collaboration with partners such as the National Consumer Law Center against payday loan app operators and other predatory lenders.
CRL is a 501(c)-style nonprofit and does not sell products or services. Revenue is derived from individual donations and institutional foundation grants, with no disclosed funding rounds, equity, or debt. The organization is led by President Michael Calhoun and a senior team including Executive VP of State Policy Ellen Harnick, senior policy counsels, and senior researchers, and operates with a headcount in the 11-50 range across its three offices.
Center for Responsible Lending firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Center for Responsible Lending
- Legal name
- Center for Responsible Lending
- Website
- https://responsiblelending.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2002
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The Center for Responsible Lending is a non-partisan nonprofit research and advocacy organization that fights predatory lending through policy research, testimony, litigation, and a coalition of nearly 200 consumer, civil rights, and labor organizations, serving low- and moderate-income families and families of color across the United States.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Center for Responsible Lending industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Consumer Financial Protection Advocacy
- akta.pro primary industry
- Policy, Regulatory & Public Affairs Research (BPAHALAF)
Keywords
Where Center for Responsible Lending is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Durham
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Center for Responsible Lending business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Individual Donations: CRL operates on contributions from individuals and institutional funders. Individual donors provide ongoing financial support for the organization's advocacy and research activities.
- Institutional Funder Grants: The organization receives funding from institutional funders including foundations and organizations supporting consumer advocacy and financial justice causes.
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Center for Responsible Lending product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Center for Responsible Lending conducts research, policy analysis, and advocacy focused on consumer financial protection and predatory lending practices. Its work product consists of published research reports, policy analyses, legislative testimony, amicus briefs, and coalition letters addressing payday loans, auto lending, student loans, mortgage lending, overdraft fees, and debt collection. All publications and resources are provided free to policymakers, advocates, and the public.
Product overview
Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) is a national nonprofit research and advocacy organization focused on consumer lending policy. It does not offer commercial products or services. Its work product consists of published research reports, policy analyses, legislative testimony, amicus briefs, and coalition letters addressing predatory lending practices across consumer finance areas including payday loans, auto lending, student loans, mortgage lending, overdraft fees, and debt collection. CRL operates through three offices (Durham, NC; Washington, DC; Oakland, CA) and maintains a public website providing access to its research publications, expert staff profiles, issue pages, and a newsletter signup. The organization is an affiliate of Self-Help, a community development financial institution.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Julian Bond Institute: Named after civil rights leader and former CRL Board Chair Julian Bond, the Julian Bond Institute for Financial Equity Research conducts research on wealth inequality and financial equity issues affecting communities of color.
Quantifiable outcome
- $21 billion returned directly to consumers by CFPB over its history, work CRL helped enable through advocacy
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Center for Responsible Lending
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Center for Responsible Lending technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Center for Responsible Lending partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.
- Nearly 200 Labor, Consumer, Civil Rights, and Community Organizations CoalitioncoreCRL leads and participates in broad coalition efforts with nearly 200 organizations including labor unions, consumer groups, civil rights organizations, and community advocates to oppose predatory lending legislation and advocate for stronger consumer protections. This coalition successfully warned Congress about proposed legislation (similar to H.R. 7428) that would exempt earned wage payday loans from Truth in Lending Act requirements.
- Self-Help (Self-Help Credit Union and Self-Help Federal Credit Union)coreCRL is the policy affiliate of Self-Help, one of the nation's largest nonprofit community development financial institutions. Self-Help provides the organizational foundation and lending expertise that informs CRL's advocacy work. CRL's President Mike Calhoun describes working with 'an extraordinarily talented staff and a dedicated coalition of organizations fighting to provide economic opportunity and advancement for low- and moderate-income families.' The relationship enables CRL to leverage Self-Help's 40+ years of lending experience and community development expertise in its policy work.
- National Consumer Law Center (NCLC)coreCRL works closely with the National Consumer Law Center on litigation and advocacy. The organizations frequently file joint amicus briefs in cases involving predatory lending, including recent cases against Empower Finance (Ninth Circuit) and Grant Money LLC (Ninth Circuit) challenging payday loan app violations of the Military Lending Act. NCLC's expertise in consumer law complements CRL's policy focus.
- National Consumer Law Center (NCLC)coreNCLC and CRL collaborate on extensive advocacy and litigation defending federal consumer protections, including defending CFPB rules and pursuing class action lawsuits against predatory lenders including MoneyLion and D.R. Horton Inc. The organizations work together on litigation tracking and amicus briefs on payday loan app products.
- Americans for Financial ReformmajorCRL partners with Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund on advocacy efforts including opposing CFPB proposals to weaken small business lending transparency rules and calling for regulators to reject predatory lender merger applications.
- Consumer Federation of America, National Consumer Law Center, National Fair Housing AlliancemajorCRL collaborates with these major consumer advocacy organizations on joint comment letters to federal agencies on fintech regulation, overdraft fees, small business lending, and other consumer financial protection issues.
- SaverLifeminorCRL partnered with SaverLife, a nonprofit that uses technology to improve financial health, to analyze anonymized checking account transaction data for research on vehicle-title lending and earned wage access products. SaverLife provided data from its panel of low-to-moderate income consumers for CRL's 'Under the Radar' research brief on prohibited car-title loans.
- BSP ResearchminorCRL commissioned BSP Research to conduct a survey of 400 respondents who had taken out vehicle-title loans in the past 24 months for the 'Under the Radar' research brief documenting prohibited car-title lending in 22 states and DC.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Center for Responsible Lending competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- National Consumer Law Center: NCLC is a nonprofit consumer law advocacy and litigation organization that directly partners with CRL on joint amicus briefs, CFPB defense, and class actions against predatory lenders including MoneyLion, Empower Finance, and D.R. Horton. Both organizations focus on the same predatory lending, debt collection, and consumer credit issues from complementary policy and litigation angles.
- Americans for Financial Reform: Americans for Financial Reform is a coalition of more than 200 civil rights, consumer, labor, business, investor, and other groups advocating for a fair and stable financial system. CRL is an active member partner that jointly authors advocacy letters on CFPB rulemaking and predatory lender mergers.
- Consumer Federation of America: Consumer Federation of America is an advocacy, research, and education organization that, like CRL, conducts consumer finance research, files joint comment letters to federal agencies on fintech and overdraft regulation, and works on consumer protection policy.
- National Fair Housing Alliance: The National Fair Housing Alliance is a consortium of fair housing organizations that collaborates with CRL on joint comment letters to federal agencies on fair lending, mortgage, and small business lending issues. Both organizations address predatory lending's disparate impact on communities of color.
- Public Citizen: Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that engages in research, lobbying, and litigation on consumer protection and financial regulation issues. It operates with a similar nonprofit advocacy model targeting federal agencies and Congress on consumer financial matters.
- U.S. PIRG: U.S. PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) is a federation of state-based consumer advocacy organizations conducting research and advocacy on consumer issues including financial services. It operates as a peer consumer-focused nonprofit advocacy organization.
Broad incumbents
- Consumer Reports: Consumer Reports is a large, established consumer-focused nonprofit that conducts independent research, testing, and advocacy across a much broader portfolio of consumer categories. While CRL specializes in financial services, both share a nonprofit research-and-advocacy model serving consumer interests.
- Center for American Progress: The Center for American Progress is a major public policy research and advocacy institute that, like CRL, produces policy reports and engages in federal advocacy. It is broader in scope across all domestic policy areas but shares the same policy research and advocacy delivery model.
- Brookings Institution: Brookings is a leading public policy research organization that publishes influential research across economic policy, including financial regulation. While its scope is much broader, it serves as a peer institution producing policy research that informs federal financial regulation debates.
Others
- Americans for Tax Fairness: Americans for Tax Fairness is a coalition advocacy organization operating with a similar nonprofit policy and coalition-driven model to CRL, though focused on tax policy rather than consumer credit. It is comparable as a coalition-based economic justice advocacy nonprofit.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Center for Responsible Lending social profiles
Digital presenceCenter for Responsible Lending financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Center for Responsible Lending leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Center for Responsible Lending funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
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Center for Responsible Lending M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Center for Responsible Lending
What does Center for Responsible Lending do?
The Center for Responsible Lending conducts research, policy analysis, and advocacy focused on consumer financial protection and predatory lending practices. Its work product consists of published research reports, policy analyses, legislative testimony, amicus briefs, and coalition letters addressing payday loans, auto lending, student loans, mortgage lending, overdraft fees, and debt collection. All publications and resources are provided free to policymakers, advocates, and the public.
Is Center for Responsible Lending a public or private company?
Center for Responsible Lending is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Center for Responsible Lending founded?
Center for Responsible Lending was founded in 2002. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Center for Responsible Lending based?
Center for Responsible Lending is headquartered in Durham, United States, in the North America region.
How does Center for Responsible Lending make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Individual Donations are the primary driver. The others are institutional Funder Grants.
Who are Center for Responsible Lending's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are National Consumer Law Center, Americans for Financial Reform, Consumer Federation of America, National Fair Housing Alliance, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG. Broad incumbents are Consumer Reports, Center for American Progress and Brookings Institution. Americans for Tax Fairness is listed as an others.
Does Center for Responsible Lending have an API?
No public API is recorded for Center for Responsible Lending.
What industry is Center for Responsible Lending in?
Center for Responsible Lending's product category is Consumer Financial Protection Advocacy. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHALAF, Policy, Regulatory & Public Affairs Research.