Unsustainable Debt Trajectory Needs to Be Managed By Charlene Crowell With 44 million consumers owing student debt that now reaches $1.5 trillion and still climbing, a lot of people want to better understand how and why this unsustainable debt trajectory can be better managed. For Black consumers who typically have less family wealth than other […]
EXCEPT WHERE INDICATED, THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ON THIS PAGE ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE MADISON TIMES
EXCEPT WHERE INDICATED, THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ON THIS PAGE ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE MADISON TIMES
Fighting Discrimination in the Housing Market Takes a Strong FHA
By Charlene Crowell (Deputy Communications Director, Center for Responsible Lending) In the classic movie film, “Gone with the Wind,” the owner of the Tara plantation admonished his daughter for remarking that she didn’t care about her home. In a sharp rebuke, Gerald O-Hara declared that “land was the only thing worth living for, worth fighting […]
EXCEPT WHERE INDICATED, THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ON THIS PAGE ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE MADISON TIMES
Senate Lawmakers Seek to Gut Fair Housing
Senate Lawmakers’ Housing Reform Plan Threatens Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac By Charlene Crowell (NNPA Newswire Columnist) In just a few weeks, civil rights and housing advocates will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. Just six days after the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Congress passed the law on April […]
Black Students Hit Hard by For-Profit College Debt
New Center for Responsible Lending Report Says For-Profit Education “a Risky Proposition” By Charlene Crowell (Communications Deputy Director, Center for Responsible Lending) Mounting student debt is a nagging problem for most families these days. As the cost of higher education rises, borrowing to cover those costs often becomes a family concern across multiple generations including […]
Dream Deferred: Despite Incomes, Black Families Still Denied Access to Home Loans
By Charlene Crowell NNPA Newswire Columnist In recent weeks, a spate of news coverage has referred to America’s “inner cities.” Some may even interpret it as a new code word for minorities, usually referring to Blacks and Latinos. Yet today, according to Richard Rothstein, a research associate with the Economic Policy Institute, the inner city […]
Four Things You Should Know Before You Sign that Car Loan
by Charlene Crowell NNPA News Wire Columnist It’s that time of year again when days are longer, temperatures are higher and auto dealers advertise some of the most tempting deals. And while there’s nothing new about new car fever or the annual ad blitz, there’s a good deal of news on how consumers are choosing […]
Companies Pay Out Millions in Settlements as Discrimination Lingers
by Charlene Crowell NNPA News Wire Columnist As a country, America has historically short-changed its people of color in virtually every dimension of life: education, employment, housing, public accommodations and voting to name a few. To remedy discriminatory practices and policies, a series of federal and state laws were enacted over several decades to guarantee […]
Veterans and Consumers of Color often Targeted for Fraud
by Charlene Crowell NNPA News Wire Columnist Although the former Corinthian Colleges, once one of the nation’s largest for-profit colleges, closed its doors last year, many of the problems incurred by its former students persist. The now-defunct college is the only questionable actor among for-profit colleges. To date, investigations, and lawsuits have focused on a […]
CFPB Cracks Down on Illegal Debt Collections
By Charlene Crowell NNPA News Wire Columnist As holiday revelers toasted the season, a key federal regulator took two steps to ensure that 2016 would bring an important change for consumers harassed by illegal debt collector actions. On December 16 and its third action against a large national payday lender, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau […]
EXCEPT WHERE INDICATED, THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ON THIS PAGE ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE MADISON TIMES
Banks Caught Redlining Black Communities
By Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist The old adage, ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’ seems somehow an apt description for what a growing number of communities are suffering: a lack of fair lending. In recent weeks and in varying locales, the issue of redlining has led to lawsuits that have been […]