Center for Responsible Lending

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.

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

Product category

Consumer Financial Protection Advocacy

akta.pro primary industry

Policy, Regulatory & Public Affairs Research (BPAHALAF)

Keywords

• Consumer financial protection
• Predatory lending research
• Policy advocacy services
• Nonprofit research organization
• Fair lending advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Durham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. 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

Core 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

Named customers3 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Nearly 200 Labor, Consumer, Civil Rights, and Community Organizations CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 November 2025CRL 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)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCRL 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)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCRL 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)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCLC 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 ReformmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCRL 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 AlliancemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCRL 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.
• SaverLifeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCRL 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 ResearchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCRL 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

Direct 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

• Xx.com/CRLONLINE
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ResponsibleLending
• Facebookfacebook.com/CenterforResponsibleLending
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-responsible-lending

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Center for Responsible Lending