Americans for Fairness in Lending (AFFIL) -kicks off campaign

AFFIL was born out of the frustration of consumer advocates who were winning small battles but losing the bigger war waged against Americans by the lending industry. Despite a thriving economy in the last decade, a growing number of families are overwhelmed by credit problems and soaring debt burdens.

Read AFFIL'S SIX PRINCIPLES OF FAIRNESS IN LENDING

"Our goal is simple - to establish fair credit policies and practices."

Lending is necessary in our society and can be helpful in building and preserving community and individual assets. Our laws, however, allow lenders to encourage and profit enormously from personal debt. Discrimination and the selling of unaffordable and abusive loans is rampant. Practices that used to be called 'loan-sharking' are now legal. Borrower protections cannot be left to the lenders. We propose these six components of fair lending against which all credit practices and products must be tested - across the life of the loan and its collection.

AFFIL's new website can be found at affil.org