This working paper focuses on consumers who struggled to manage credit card and other unsecured debt during the pandemic, analyzing the extent to which consumers obtained card and other forbearances from lenders and shifts in patterns of consumers who sought credit counseling and enrolled in debt management plans through September 2021.

FinRegLab research highlights the benefits of combining short-term payment relief with longer term assistance plans for the most vulnerable of consumers struggling with credit card debt.

This research brief highlights the need for consumer engagement and administrative flexibility to help distressed borrowers transition smoothly into longer-term repayment plans as pandemic deferral programs end and new programs are implemented.

FinRegLab research finds that tools for managing explainability and fairness in machine learning underwriting models hold promise and that regulatory guidance could encourage more consistent, responsible use.

This paper summarizes the machine learning project’s key empirical research findings and discusses the regulatory and public policy implications to be considered with the increasing use of machine learning models and explainability and fairness techniques.

This empirical white paper assesses the capabilities and limitations of available model diagnostic tools in helping lenders manage machine learning underwriting models. It focuses on the tools’ production of information relevant to adverse action, fair lending, and model risk management requirements.

This report surveys the options that are available to consumers who are struggling with unsecured debt, including available research on the options’ scope and outcomes. It provides an overview of market and policy challenges as stakeholders ponder strategies to help consumers recover more quickly from personal and broader economic crises such as COVID-19.

This executive summary highlights key themes from our longer market and policy context report, which surveys the options available to consumers who are struggling with unsecured debt and market and policy challenges to helping consumers recover more quickly from financial shocks.

FinRegLab attended ICML’s Responsible Decision Making in Dynamic Environments workshop and presented our work on a subsection of our white paper. The workshop poster and presentation focused on how model diagnostic tools affect lenders’ ability to manage fairness concerns related to identifying less discriminatory alternative models used to extend credit.

FinRegLab partnered with the Urban Institute to detail twenty years of research and efforts to access utility, telecom, and rental payment history for credit scoring and underwriting. The paper describes recent initiatives and key challenges going forward.