Welcome to New Yorkers for Responsible Lending. We’re a coalition of more than 160 organizations from all corners of New York State that promotes economic justice as a matter of racial and community equity through legislative and policy advocacy, popular education, media advocacy, and organizing campaigns.
2025 NYRL Policy Platform
New Yorkers for Responsible Lending (NYRL), a statewide coalition of 160 non‐profit organizations,
promotes economic justice as a matter of racial and community equity. NYRL’s policy platform reflects
NYRL members’ experiences working with consumers in communities across New York State
to address economic challenges, inequities, and injustices New Yorkers face.
Key Priority – Pass the Consumer and Small Business Protection Act (CSPA):
NYRL strongly supports A.5287 (Lasher) / S.105 (Comrie) to amend New York’s primary consumer
protection statute (GBL § 349) to conform with the majority of states’ consumer protection laws that
broadly prohibit unfair business practices. These predatory practices target and extract wealth from
people of color, in communities with fewer safe options due to decades of systemic racism.
The bill enhances access to justice for consumers and small businesses harmed in financing,
mortgages and housing, insurance, student loans, and other transactions. The bill also
simplifies pleading requirements and updates the outdated damages cap set 40 years ago.
Read the Full 2025 NYRL Platform Here
Black Lives Matter
New Yorkers for Responsible Lending condemns the continued violence against Black people in the United States, perpetrated by police, white supremacists and systemic racism. We mourn with families of recent victims, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the many others whose lives matter, but are simply too numerous to name. As New Yorkers, we remember the killing of Eric Garner at the hands of NYC police and support the recent repeal of Section 50-a of New York’s Civil Rights Law, so that police disciplinary records will no longer be hidden from the public. We stand in solidarity with the millions of Black people subject to racial oppression and violence and, with them, we demand justice.
As a coalition of organizations committed to economic justice, we recognize the structural racism endemic to this nation’s financial system. It has extracted wealth from communities of color, permitted income inequality, and produced the racial wealth gap. Specific practices like redlining have deprived communities of color access to essential financial services, such as banking and insurance. Discriminatory lending practices and predatory lending aimed at poor Black and Brown communities extract wealth from economically struggling communities, lead to housing foreclosures, educational inequity, income inequality and continuing housing segregation. We are committed to the fight for equality, dedicated to justice, and resolve to effect true change. We recognize that without racial justice, there is no economic justice.
