Case Study: Center for Responsible Lending achieves rapid, policy‑shaping lending forecasts with SAS Forecasting

Improving lending practices helps consumers, economy

The Center for Responsible Lending, a not‑for‑profit research organization, analyzes the impact of lending practices on consumers and the economy. Tasked with state‑by‑state forecasts using 30–50 million Home Mortgage Disclosure Act records, the Center faced slow, error‑prone processing—analyses that took hours or days and reset with a single mistake—limiting its ability to produce timely, accurate policy research.

By adopting SAS forecasting and analytics the Center cut run times from hours to minutes, automated updates, and ran complex “what if” scenarios. That faster, more rigorous analysis enabled a two‑year‑ahead prediction of the subprime meltdown, exposed how prepayment penalty savings were diverted to third parties (helping prompt regulatory limits), demonstrated that state anti‑predatory laws work without choking credit, and revealed payday lending’s concentration in minority neighborhoods—making the Center a trusted resource for policymakers and journalists.

Center for Responsible Lending

Keith Ernst

Director of Research