Lauren Saunders

Associate Director (DC Office)

Lauren Saunders is Associate Director at the National Consumer Law Center and manages the Washington, DC office, where she directs NCLC’s federal legislative and regulatory work. Lauren is a recognized expert in various areas, including small dollar loans, fintech, prepaid cards, credit cards, bank accounts, and consumer protection regulation. She is the lead author of Consumer Banking and Payments Law, contributes to Consumer Credit Regulation, and has authored several reports and white papers. She previously directed the Federal Rights Project of the National Senior Citizens Law Center; was Deputy Director of Litigation at Bet Tzedek Legal Services; and was an associate at Hall & Phillips. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and was an Executive Editor of the Harvard Law Review, and holds a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, from Stanford University.

Featured Work

American Banker "Can small-dollar loans be both profitable and fair?"

Originally airing on July 29, 2020 on the American Banker podcast, Brendan Pedersen interviews Lauren Saunders on the problems with small dollar lending and how lenders can profit while offering fair loans to consumers.
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Digital Library: The Latest Developments on Constitutionality of CFPB Regulations

The latest NCLC Digital Library article examines important developments at the Supreme Court, Second Circuit, and the district courts since the Fifth Circuit’s October ruling that the CFPB’s funding mechanism is unconstitutional and that a CFPB rule must thus be vacated. The article also offers updated litigation practice pointers for cases involving CFPB rules where defendants may challenge…
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NPR: Apple rolls out Apple Pay Later — a buy now, pay later service

Airing during NPR’s Morning Edition on Mar. 30, 2023, Lauren Saunders talks about Apple allowing some iPhone users to pay for purchases up to $1,000 in installments using Apple Pay Later. Buy now, pay later loans can be tricky, said Lauren Saunders, associate director at the National Consumer Law Center. “They can make things look…
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