Responsible Business Lending Coalition

It's nice to see the rubber hit the road. Today, California's financial regulator announced that another of the 8 state and federal laws that Responsible Business Lending Coalition has worked to pass is coming into effect. The rubber is hitting the road on March 15th! Back in 2020, hundreds of small business lenders and advocates got together to pass a law expanding California's consumer financial protection regulator to protect small businesses as well. It's bearing fruit. By March 15th, companies offering financing to small businesses in California are due to file a very short report stating how much small business financing they made in 2024, and at what prices, including the minimum, average, and maximum Annual Percentage Rate (APR). We've always believed that sunshine can help markets deliver better prices and products. Especially with Dodd-Frank Section 1071 not yet in effect, this will provide some of the first broad data about the how much small business financing is happening, and at what business owners are paying for it. That info can help innovators grow, and inform better government strategies to help small businesses access capital. Congrats to California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation for standing this program up. And to so many leaders for small business who are working to making financing more available, innovative, and safer for main street entrepreneurs pursuing the American dream. CAMEO Network, Small Business Majority, Camino Financial, California African American Chamber of Commerce, National Community Reinvestment Coalition - NCRC, Rise Economy, Consumer Federation of California (CFC), California Low-Income Consumer Coalition, Opportunity Finance Network, National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, Momentus Capital, Access Plus Capital, Accion Opportunity Fund, The Greenlining Institute, Woodstock Institute, Inclusive Action for the City, Richmond Main Street Initiative, El Pájaro Community Development Corporation, Silver Lining, Prospera Credit Union, Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce, Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce, ICA Fund, Pacific Community Ventures (PCV), Women's Economic Ventures (WEV), CDC Small Business Finance, Halo Business Finance, SMALL BUSINESS CALIFORNIA (SB-Cal), Main Street Launch, Working Solutions CDFI, and so many others.

Congratulations to our President Alison Feighan on being recognized as one of The Hill's Top Lobbyists of 2024! 🎉 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gAnCnzk3"

🔍 Impact Investing Case Study Spotlight: the Responsible Business Lending Coalition We believe Policy Enhanced Impact Investing has the potential to transform the way impact investors collaborate with policy, driving meaningful and lasting change. We're already seeing the power of this approach through success stories like the Responsible Business Lending Coalition (RBLC), which demonstrates how strategic policy engagement can amplify investment returns while driving systemic change. Through coalition building and legislative advocacy, the RBLC has spearheaded efforts to enhance regulatory frameworks and promote a culture of responsibility within the financial sector.   You can read the full RBLC case study here and learn more about Policy-Enhanced Impact Investing at https://lnkd.in/gZW2m4vU.

I've been thinking a lot about debt collection this week, trying to help a woman who is losing her home to foreclosure. She had pledged her home as collateral on a loan to the nonprofit animal rescue she runs. Now the lender is taking her home to collect $1.1 Million for the $450k they provided to her nonprofit. In that somber context, there is some good news to share this week that will help thousands of people in similar situations, starting next year. Yesterday, the Governor of California signed into law SB 1286, a priority bill for the Responsible Business Lending Coalition. This law now extends California's Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to apply to personal debts that people take to fund their businesses. Debt collection is part of lending, and responsible lenders need to be able to recoup the financing the provide. But how matters. Since the 1970s, it's been illegal to for lenders collecting on your debt to lie to you, call you repeatedly in the middle of the night, or publicly humiliate you or your family to pressure you. That's been illegal if the loan was for you to buy a home, or a car, or just a credit card--but not if you took out that debt for your business. Now, business owners in California are protected by the same standards they've had on other debts taken personally. I'm proud of the for-profit lenders in the Responsible Business Lending Coalition, including Bluevine and Quantum Financial Technologies who took to the time to consider whether this law would create a compliance burden, and found that it does not. After all, responsible lenders, and all signatories of the Small Business Borrowers' Bill of Rights, already have standards in place against using lies and harassment in collections. This becomes the 8th law that the Responsible Business Lending Coalition has helped to pass, to implement into law provisions of the Small Business Borrowers' Bill of Rights. (Other laws we've helped pass have set standards for Truth in Lending price transparency, junk fees, deceptive practices, and have also sought to catalyze more responsible lending by improving digital access to underwriting data.) This bill, like any real accomplishment, was a team effort. And we have some great friends on the team. Chiefly, this bill was possible because of the work of Desiree N. at the East Bay Community Law Center, the team at CAMEO Network, Small Business Majority, Bluevine, Quantum Financial Technologies, San Juan Capistrano Chamber of Commerce, City of Irvine, Consumer Federation of California (CFC), Microenterprise Collaborative of Inland Southern California, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, California Coalition for Community Investment CCCI, Bet Tzedek Legal Services, La Cocina - Nonprofit Kitchen Incubator , Public Counsel, Public Law Center, Rise Economy, Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA), Women's Economic Ventures (WEV), ICA Fund, among others, and of course Senator Min and his legislative aid Brett Hailey!

Thank you CAMEO Network for organizing this conversation with Jeanette Quick, U.S. Department of the Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Policy! She shared that financial institutions policy cannot think only in terms of macro-economics and safety and soundness--it must deeply consider small business and consumer finance, because it's the lives of real families that make up the macro-economic conditions. Glad to join friends from ICA Fund, Pacific Community Ventures (PCV), and ESO Ventures, Hector Ramos, Martha Hernández, SHRM-SCP, Mark Herbert, Dara Dado, and Ray Ko.

Congrats to all the small business advocates who got together to protect the CFPB's small business data collection rule ("Section 1071") being rolled back. Today the 5th Circuit ruled in summary judgement to preserve this regulation. That's good news for small businesses, effective and inclusive small business lenders, and the US economy--the data collected will show what really works at providing responsible credit to businesses! And that market transparency will spur innovation and competition, as lenders replicate what works to better serve small businesses. Congrats to the Responsible Business Lending Coalition and our amicus partners Opportunity Finance Network, Texas Association of Community Development Corporations, Allies for Community Business, Access Plus Capital, Community First Fund, Scale Link, and the phenomenal lawyers at Relman Colfax PLLC, Sacha Markano-Stark and Stephen Hayes.

Building capacity and expanding resources for emerging entrepreneurs transforms lives and local economies. And CAMEO Network California’s statewide micro-business network, is playing a critical role in this work. Commissioner Clothilde Hewlett had the honor of celebrating this diverse network of entrepreneurs in her keynote address at the CAMEO Network 2024 Advocacy Day in Sacramento on Wednesday. Their work supporting California’s entrepreneurs and small and micro businesses through education and training, regulatory guidance, and advocacy activities are fully aligned with DFPI’s mission to protect consumers and foster responsible innovation in California. #CAMEOAdvocacyDay #smallbusiness *** Photo 1: Bianca Blomquist Small Business Majority, Louis Caditz-Peck, CAMEO; Claudia Viek, Invest in Women Entrepreneurs Initiative; Commissioner Clothilde Hewlett, DFPI; Monte A. Jones, Logan Heights Community Development Corporation; Tate Hill Access Plus Capital Photo 2: Commissioner Hewlett and Louis Caditz-Peck, Heidi Pickman, and Carolina Martinez from CAMEO.

Think it's a good thing when a trade publication for alternative business lenders and brokers writes this warning about a bill Responsible Business Lending Coalition is sponsoring? "Talk about bipartisanship! ...That's right, no more flying under the radar!" Summary of the bill in that article below. Congrats to the responsible financing companies and nonprofit allies supporting the bill for California SB 1482 passing -Unanimously- through the CA Senate. It'll be heard in the Assembly July 1. Responsible Business Lending Coalition, Small Business Majority, CAMEO Network, National Community Reinvestment Coalition - NCRC, Community Investment Management, Rise Economy, California Low-Income Consumer Coalition, Public Counsel, Public Law Center, Bluevine, National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, Accion Opportunity Fund, Camino Financial, Opportunity Finance Network, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, Access Plus Capital, Uptima Entrepreneur Cooperative, Microenterprise Collaborative of Inland Southern California, Consumer Federation of California (CFC), Pacific Community Ventures (PCV)