FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 20, 2020

CONTACT:
Carter Dougherty
carter@ourfinancialsecurity.org
(202) 251-6700

Congress Needs to Step in With 36% Rate Cap

Washington, DC – Statement from Linda Jun, senior policy counsel, Americans for Financial Reform, on the OCC’s proposal rule overturning the “true lender doctrine” that courts have used for over a century to stop lenders from evading state usury laws:

“The OCC proposal is nothing more than a plan for unleashing predatory lenders to peddle dangerous financial products nationwide by eviscerating the power of state usury laws. Many states have interest rate caps that are very effective guardrails against predatory lending. They are highly popular among voters in diverse states, many of whom put the limits in place through ballot initiatives. This destructive rule would only serve the interest of high-cost lenders, who have been very active in lobbying this administration to enable them to expand abusive practices. The OCC has chosen to eliminate safeguards at a time when many communities are particularly vulnerable as they navigate the economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. With other financial regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, joining together to enable predatory lending in their own ways, we need Congress to step in and impose a national rate cap to protect all Americans from the harm of the debt trap.”

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