Center for Responsible Lending Gets $2M Grant

DURHAM, N.C. - The Center for Responsible Lending, a growing consumer lobby created by Self-Help CU, got a boost last week when the Pew Charitable Trusts awarded it a $2 million grant, part of the national foundation's new fight against predatory mortgage lending.

The announcement came as Michael Calhoun, president of the center, was testifying on Capitol Hill that the crisis in subprime mortgages is not over, despite assertions in the mortgage industry. The gift from Pew will enable the credit union-backed lobby group to expand its work supporting anti-predatory loan legislation. "This will be a continuation of our work," Carol Hammerstein, spokesman for the center, told Credit Union Journal.

That work has made the center into an emerging influence in the new Democratically controlled Congress, which is pursuing legislation to address abusive practices in mortgage lending and credit cards. The center is already supported by several major foundations, including MacArthur, Ford, Annie Casey, Rockefeller Foundation and the Sandler Family, among others.