Americans for Fairness in Lending

Mission

Americans for Fairness in Lending is working to reform the lending industry to protect Americans' financial assets.

History 

In the early twenty-first century, AFFIL was born out of the frustration of consumer advocates who were winning small battles for their clients, but losing the bigger war against American consumers.  Despite the thriving economy of the time, many families were overwhelmed by credit problems and soaring debt burdens.  In 2004, a group of consumer advocates, economists, and policy makers began discussing how to reverse these trends.  They determined that a public awareness campaign was needed to move forward the advocacy, educational, legal, and policy work already being done to protect consumers.

The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) organized a conference to discuss this concept, assisted by ACORN, the Center for Responsible Lending, and the Consumer Federation of America.  The conference, Changing Attitudes, Reforming Policy in the Credit Marketplace, took place in Cleveland, Ohio at Cleveland State University, on October, 7-8, 2004.  Over 100 prominent advocates, experts, and community organizers attended, ranging from the Rainbow Push Coalition and LA Chinatown Service Center to AARP.  The conference allowed participants to exchange information and discuss the most effective strategies for moving forward.  After the conference, NCLC hired Cathy Lesser Mansfield, a law professor at Drake University Law School, to coordinate the next phase of the campaign. 

Next, AFFIL representatives met with key non-profit organizations to develop the vision for the message campaign.  Many of these organizations formally become AFFIL partners.  AFFIL also maintained contact with locally-focused groups from the formative Cleveland conference, many of whom became AFFIL allies.

In March 2006, AFFIL learned about the documentary Maxed Out directed by James Scurlock which addresses debt and lending industry abuses in America.  AFFIL’s new Executive Director, Kirsten Keefe, attended the premiere of Maxed Out in Austin, Texas and introduced Scurlock to AFFIL.  Following the premiere AFFIL entered into a formal collaboration with Scurlock.

In the summer and fall of 2006, AFFIL began to solidify as its own organization.  AFFIL was incorporated in the state of Massachusetts on August 31, 2006, and received its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status soon thereafter.  In July of 2006, Sarah Byrnes was hired to be the full-time Campaign Manager and work out of NCLC’s Boston office.  Kirsten Keefe stayed on as AFFIL’s part-time Executive Director, working out of Albany, New York.  The Board of Directors, chaired by Cathy Lesser Mansfield, met in November of 2006 in Miami, Florida.

During the fall of 2006, the partners met three times in Washington DC, twice at AARP and once at the National Council of La Raza.  At these meetings, they jointly wrote AFFIL’s Six Principles of Fairness in Lending.

Launch

AFFIL officially "launched" on March 6, 2007 in New York City.  The day included an afternoon panel discussion hosted by partner organization Demos, titled A Day on Debt.  Panelists at the event included Tamara Draut of Demos, Sarah Ludwig of NEDAP, Eric Rodriguez of the National Council of La Raza, Elizabeth Warren of Harvard Law School, and Marva Williams of the Woodstock Institute, and the panel was moderated by George McCarthy of the Ford Foundation.  In the evening, AFFIL hosted a screening of the movie Maxed Out, followed by a panel discussion with Kirsten Keefe, Janne O’Donnell (who is featured in the film and serves on the AFFIL Board), James Scurlock, and Professor Elizabeth Warren.  The panel was moderated by Cathy Lesser Mansfield.  On March 7, Kirsten Keefe, Janne O’Donnell and James Scurlock again appeared at a panel discussion following a Congressional screening of Maxed Out in Washington, DC.  The launch was the subject of the New York Times article Critics of Lending Practices Adopt a Harder Edge, as well as articles by the Associated Press, USA Today, and many other outlets.

2007 and Beyond

Both prior to and after the launch, AFFIL helped organize Maxed Out screenings around the country.  The movie played in theaters in thirteen cities, and a screen at the end of the film directed viewers to visit AFFIL’s website for more information and to take action.  The DVD was released on June 5, 2007, and contains a "special feature" explaining what AFFIL is, how to become involved, and how to protect oneself form predatory lending.  AFFIL continues its relationship with Maxed Out, and has benefited from its appearances on the cable channel Showtime and other outlets.  In the fall of 2007 and again in the summer of 2008, AFFIL asked its members to host "House Parties" to show the film to family and friends, and AFFIL supports local groups who organize public screenings of the film.

After the launch, AFFIL began amassing a membership of individuals and disseminating press releases and electronic action alerts.  During the summer of 2007, AFFIL turned its focus to the particular credit problems of college students, and created an animated video for online distribution for that audience.  AFFIL also created a "Web 2.0" presence on several social networking sites including Facebook, MySpace, and Change.org.

At the time of the launch, AFFIL had 14 partners:  ACORN, California Reinvestment Coalition, Center for Community Change, Center for Responsible Lending, Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Demos, National Association of Consumer Advocates, National Consumer Law Center, NEDAP, United Professionals, US PIRG, and Woodstock Institute.  Over the next year, the organization added six more:  Consumer Action, CFED, National Fair Housing Alliance, Public Citizen, SEIU and United for a Fair Economy.

In October of 2007, AFFIL hired its first on-site Executive Director, Jim Campen.  Campen brought his expertise as a professor emeritus of economics from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and considerable experience in the Boston Community Reinvestment community.  Campen convened a partner meeting soon after he was hired, the first one after the launch, on October 29, 2007.  Thereafter, partner meetings have been held every six months in Washington, DC.

In 2008, AFFIL focused on a variety of topics related to fairness in lending, continued to grow its memberships, and continued to engage the press in its issues.  During the summer of that year, the organization sustained a particular focus on credit cards.  AFFIL members sent over 10,000 comments—hundreds of them personally composed—to the Federal Reserve Board in response to its proposal to curb some abusive credit card practices.  AFFIL members also supported the passage of legislation designed to curb credit card abuse.  The passage of this legislation—known as the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights—through the House Financial Services Committee was the first victory consumer advocates had experienced in that committee in over twenty years.

In addition to these activities, AFFIL worked to disseminate the stories of former employees of the credit card company MBNA who wished to expose the unethical practices of their former employer.  These stories, and the perspective of AFFIL staff on credit cards, were widely featured in the media, including on ABC’s Nightline and CNN’s American Morning.