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

AFFIL uses its website and electronic mailing list to engage consumers in the fight to reform the lending industry. We also have two major programs: first, a focus on credit card lending, and secondly, an awareness campaign in Kansas City and Lawrence, KS. Our credit card campaign includes research, press releases, action alerts, and other tactics designed to generate buzz about the need to reform credit card lending. One of our goals is to influence decision-makers such as the Federal Reserve Board through this awareness-raising. We produced a short animated video as well as many informative documents, and we organize screenings of the documentary Maxed Out on college campuses and other venues. Our Kansas campaign is a collaboration with local organizations to form a coalition to combat predatory lending. We use radio advertising and events to reach the public in that area, among other tactics.

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.  In 2004, a group of consumer advocates, economists, and policy makers began discussing how to reverse these trends.  They determined that what was needed was a public awareness campaign that could move forward the advocacy, educational, legal, and policy work already being done to protect consumers.

The National Consumer Law Center organized a conference, 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, watch presentations by two ad firms, 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 on a part-time basis.  Based on their superior presentation at the Cleveland conference, Lesser Mansfield began working with Benenson Janson, an LA-based ad firm, on ads to raise public awareness about lending industry abuses.

As an essential first step, AFFIL representatives met with key non-profit organizations to develop the vision for the message campaign.  Many of these organizations formally become AFFIL partners.  The partners remain the crucial force behind the campaign, providing the needed vision and expertise.  AFFIL also maintained contact with locally-focused groups from the formative Cleveland conference, many of whom became the first 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 part-time Executive Director, Kirsten Keefe, attended the premiere of Maxed Out in Austin, Texas and introduced Scurlock to AFFIL.  Following the premiere, the Ford Foundation hosted a meeting between AFFIL and Scurlock, and AFFIL entered into a formal collaboration with Scurlock.  AFFIL planned to work with the release of both the film and Scurlock’s book of the same title.

With the help of the DC-based research firm Beldon Russonello & Stewart, AFFIL tested ad comps produced by Benenson Janson on four focus groups in Chicago on June 12 and 13, 2006.  The aim of the focus groups was to test the ad campaigns, individual ads, tag lines, and the concept of AFFIL.  The groups clearly identified the “American Tragedies” campaign as the most effective and powerful, and chose the “Family In the Woods” as their favorite ad.  In response to these findings and further input from the AFFIL partners, Benenson Janson went forward and began producing ads during the fall of 2006.

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 filed for 501(c)(3) tax 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 ED, working out of Albany, New York.  The Board of Directors, chaired by Cathy Lesser Mansfield, met via teleconference early in the fall, and in person in November of 2006 in Miami, Florida.  The Board began oversight of AFFIL’s finances and organizational structure, leaving the vision and mission of the campaign to the partners.

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.  In December, AFFIL contracted with Bari George of By George and Company to work as AFFIL’s communications consultant.  In January, with George’s assistance, AFFIL assembled a team of media specialists and writers.  The web committee and web architect continued to work on web development.  AFFIL staff worked closely with Magnolia Pictures, Landmark Entertainment, Simon and Schuster, and James Scurlock to coordinate events around the impending release of Maxed Out the book and the movie.  AFFIL set March 6, 2007 as its official launch date.